D.C. School Repairs Caught Up in Dispute
Council, School Board Disagree Over Who Will Have Control of Contracts

By Nikita Stewart and Theola Labbé
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Although parents, teachers and officials agree that many school buildings in the District are in dire need of renovation and repair, the D.C. Council and D.C. public schools are squabbling over who will have control over $1 billion in contracts to make some of the necessary changes.

The dispute gives the council an opportunity to assert itself on an issue of great importance to neighborhood residents as members move toward handing the 55,000-student system over to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) by this summer. And it gives school officials a chance to exercise their power now, despite an uncertain future.

But parents and their children are caught in the middle, waiting to see whether promised school renovations will stay on schedule.

School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey and Board of Education President Robert C. Bobb opened themselves to second-guessing when they submitted 40 proposed contracts that failed to outline where and how the $1 billion will be spent. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) says he wants school officials to withdraw the contracts or he will lobby the council to reject the various agreements.

School district officials, however, were defiant yesterday, challenging the council and the takeover plan. The board posted on its Web site a critical analysis of Fenty's plan, written by the Council on Great City Schools, a coalition of large urban school districts. "You asked whether we would withdraw the contracts. As of this moment, no," said Audrey Williams, spokeswoman for the school system.

School officials say the contracts allow them to retain construction companies on an "as-needed basis," the next step in moving quickly on a much-heralded $2.3 billion school modernization plan approved by the council last year.

"We're dedicated to advancing the school system forward and not getting caught up with all the past criticisms of not moving fast enough," Bobb said.

Gray said he has asked to meet with school officials this week to request new contracts on the work that needs to be started immediately. The council then would approve the contracts that pertain to those schools, Gray said. "We want to work on projects that are imminent," he said. "I haven't heard from them."

He noted that future school construction would be handled by the independent authority Fenty has proposed in his school plan.

Some parents, meanwhile, are mobilizing against the plan. Several groups, including those that pushed for the modernization plan and supported Fenty's mayoral campaign, scheduled a rally in front of the mayor's house at 6:30 p.m. today to oppose the takeover.

So far, the Fenty administration is not reacting. "We're just watching it," said Victor Reinoso, deputy mayor for education. "We haven't been asked to do anything."

Amy Friend, whose daughter attends Alice Deal Junior High School in Northwest Washington, said she fears the political struggles will delay the start of critical repairs.

"We certainly hope we're not going to get caught up in any political wrangling, because it's children's education at stake," said Friend, who heads Deal's modernization committee. "If we have to wait . . . I don't think this is something that this community will take sitting down."

Deal Junior High is in the first group of eight schools in the first phase of the modernization plan. Friend's 14-year-old daughter, ninth-grader Jordan Aluise, has had to wear a coat in one classroom and a T-shirt in another because the heating system is uneven. The $43.9 million project would build a gym on the first floor, demolish a 1965 wing of the school to build a cafeteria and address heating concerns.

The other schools slated for major repairs this year are Randle Highlands and A. Kiger Savoy Elementary schools in Southeast; H.D. Woodson and Phelps high schools and Wheatley Elementary in Northeast; and H.D. Cooke Elementary and Addison Learning Center for special education students in Northwest.

In addition, school system officials said the planning and design work for 23 schools targeted for construction in 2008 would be affected if the contracts are not approved.

Council member Mary M. Cheh (D) of Ward 3, where Deal is located, said she shares parents' concerns about keeping up with timetables.

"There's no intent to slow down projects," she said.

Cheh and Gray were among eight council members last week who sent a letter to Bobb and Janey, citing a lack of courtesy in submitting contracts worth $1 billion without consulting the council.

The letter also cited the school system's tardy submission of the master facilities plan and raised concerns about a possible funding gap from expedition of the construction and the open-ended nature of the contracts.

The council got some information from school officials on the agreements. According to a form letter signed by Janey and attached to each document, the contracts were written for $100 million, $10 million and $5 million to construction companies, engineering firms and architects from the District to San Francisco. All of the selected contractors have been "pre-qualified" by the school district.

Bobb, who gave up his position as city administrator last year to run for the school board, said such contracts are commonplace throughout city agencies.

"If we're going to chastise the school district for advancing these types of contracts, then we shouldn't do them anywhere in the District government," Bobb said.

Council members weren't the only ones taken by surprise. Developer Jair Lynch's company of the same name was among the contractors approved as "pre-qualified." Lynch said he was "unaware" that the school district was proposing to give his District-based firm $100 million and still does not know exactly what his firm would do.