Two years after work was supposed to start, the Broward County (Fla.) school district says it is ready to begin repairing its aging school facilities.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the district has released a school-by-school timeline for major repairs covered in a $800 million bond proposal that voters approved in November 2014.
Construction will begin between July and September at three schools: Coconut Creek Elementary in Coconut Creek, Cypress Elementary in Pompano Beach and Eagle Point Elementary in Weston. The three are slated to get new air conditioning systems, roofs, fire safety improvements and other building upgrades. Work should be completed by June of next year.
Nine other schools are expected to see repairs starting in the last three months of 2017.
But the three crumbling schools that were a focal point in the 2014 bond campaign will have to wait until early next year for some relief. They are Stranahan High in Fort Lauderdale, Northeast High in Oakland Park and Blanche Ely High in Pompano Beach.
The pace of construction is expected to accelerate in 2018; work is set to start at 103 schools, according to the report. Another 67 schools are set to have upgrades in 2019. Construction is set to begin in 2020 for the final 44 schools.
Broward officials have estimated that the repairs will cost about 25 percent more than expected. They attribute that to higher rates of inflation; higher roofing, mechanical, electrical and fire protection costs; and items that have been added to projects’ scope since the original estimates were made.
