The tentative preliminary construction schedule presented by Superintendent Carrol Thomas gained unanimous approval Monday from the school board's three-member building and grounds committee and goes to the full board Thursday.
"We're trying to do as many things at once as we possibly can up front," Thomas said, noting that would save on inflation costs.
Phase two would include five new elementary schools and all middle school renovations. Phase three would cover new high school auditoriums and field houses, cafeteria expansions and other projects.
"People can trust that all that stuff is going to get done?" board member Woodrow Reece asked.
"Absolutely," Thomas said.
Thomas' recommendation to hire Parsons, a Houston company, as project manager for the bond-funded work also was endorsed by the committee and will go to the board for a Thursday decision.
Parsons last year acquired 3DI, the company the school district hired for a facilities assessment and to work with the Community Bond Advisory Committee in developing the bond proposal. During the process, presentations several times contained erroneous numbers and other inaccurate information.
Thomas said there was room to consider the company's past performance in choosing a firm, and he was satisfied with Parsons' work. During development of the bond proposal, consultants from Parsons/3DI tried to respond to too many requests from too many people on the committee, Thomas said.
"Whatever the problems are, I think they're fixable," Thomas said.
Parsons was the second choice among the six project management proposals reviewed by a committee of three school district employees and two independent engineers. Negotiations with the first choice failed because the company would not accept a fee lower than about 3.5 percent, or almost $15 million, Thomas said.
Parsons agreed to a flat fee of $9 million, or about 2.6 percent of the total bond package, Thomas said.
Bennie Hickman, an engineer who served on the citizen's committee and the project management review committee, said the work of Parsons/3DI on facilities assessment played no role in evaluating Parsons' ability to handle project management. However, he attributed errors made during that stage to the committee's haste to move forward.
"I don't put as much credence in them as some do," Hickman said. He said he thinks the company's numbers are accurate now.
One advantage of a flat fee instead of a percentage fee, Thomas said, is that with a percentage fee the project manager would have no incentive to cut costs because that would mean less pay.
Hickman said he preferred a percentage fee structure for a project of this size. If the scope of work changes, the project manager could try to renegotiate the fee.
The school district will have a project to manage only if voters approve a $388.6 million bond issue. Early voting runs from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2. Election day is Nov. 6.
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