The Broward schools superintendent has declared an emergency for the district\u2019s troubled construction program, writing in a memo that a potential lapse in management could create a risk of school closures and possibly even \u201cinjury or death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Superintendent Howard Hepburn\u2019s determination on Thursday of \u201cexigent emergency circumstances\u201d comes after an audit found the district flubbed a competitive bidding<\/a> process to secure companies to oversee its large-scale construction program.<\/p>\n The emergency declaration will allow the district to continue using the services of its current construction program manager, AECOM, whose services would otherwise expire on Jan. 17, district lawyers have said.<\/p>\n \u201cUpon expiration, oversight ceases,\u201d Hepburn wrote in his memo to School Board members. \u201cNo authorized entity will manage installation, testing, or closeout of systems that prevent fire spread, ensure evacuation, and keep schools occupiable. Every day without oversight increases danger. Time lost equals heightened risk.\u201d<\/p>\n The district still plans to seek competitive bids, but that process takes about six to eight months, so a short-term agreement with AECOM is needed in the interim, officials said.<\/p>\n AECOM oversees 166 active capital projects, or about $1.27 billion in work, Hepburn said.\u00a0This includes life-safety systems \u201cessential for lawful occupancy,\u201d including fire alarms and sprinklers, egress and emergency lighting, emergency power, smoke control, high-hazard protections, ventilation and kitchen hood suppression.<\/p>\n \u201cStopping or slowing oversight now puts people at risk \u2014 students, staff, visitors \u2014 today,\u201d Hepburn wrote. He used dire\u00a0terms to describe the potential consequences.<\/p>\n \u2014 Life-safety systems may stall, fail inspection or remain inoperable, \u201cwhich creates a risk of injury or death.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Permits that allow building occupancy can be suspended or revoked, \u201cforcing school closures and instructional disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Active construction sites can become uncontrolled, \u201craising accident risk and exposing the District to liability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The district could face sanctions due to regulatory noncompliance.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are not hypothetical risks. They are imminent,\u201d Hepburn wrote. \u201cDelaying to obtain multiple prices prolongs exposure and magnifies harm.\u201d<\/p>\n The emergency declaration follows a failed procurement effort by district staff. The terms of the district\u2019s 5\u00bd-year contract with AECOM do not allow for renewal under normal circumstances, and the district had to seek competitive bids, district lawyers told School Board members earlier this year.<\/p>\n The district put the services out to bid in August, but the solicitation contained provisions that may have violated district policies and state laws and discouraged competition, an internal audit released last week found.<\/p>\n As a result, Hepburn recommended the School Board reject all bids<\/a> at a meeting on Tuesday, and he told members he planned to use the emergency procurement option.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the latest in a long list of problems with the district\u2019s construction program, which has been the subject of four grand jury reports since the 1990s.<\/p>\n The most recent report, completed in 2021, blasted the execution of an $800 million bond referendum<\/a> that voters approved in 2014.<\/p>\n The program has been riddled with delays, cost overruns and lawsuits<\/a>. A grand jury report released in 2021 concluded that mismanagement of the bond was so egregious that some School Board members should be removed. Gov. Ron DeSantis removed and replaced<\/a> four in 2022.<\/p>\n Several School Board members said Tuesday that they were angry the district had to declare an emergency for more district-created problems.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a self-inflicted wound, and it\u2019s a very, very serious one, and it is time for people to be held accountable,\u201d Board member Allen Zeman said Tuesday.<\/p>\n Hepburn told the School Board on Tuesday that he\u2019s still reviewing the report but is planning \u201caccountability measures for any staff that I need to hold accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Broward schools superintendent has declared an emergency for the district\u2019s troubled construction program, writing in a memo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[113,249,251,250,266,115,109,32797],"class_list":{"0":"post-89563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","11":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-social","15":"tag-south-florida-schools"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}