Greenville County School District

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June 7, 1999

Greenville school's cleanup costs soar

It cost $ 3.4 million to build Buena Vista Elementary School and it's

now taking $ 7.5 million to clean the mold out of it.

That has upset some school board members, who say Superintendent Rudolph

Gordon should have consulted them sooner about the cost.

Trustee Ann Sutherlin said that as the expenses grew, " our eyes were getting

wider and wider. "

" A board's decision is only as good as the information we receive from the

administration, " she said.

Expenses to rid the school of mold and sanitize classroom furniture soared

beyond December's $ 1 million estimate as contractors discovered more mold

than expected at the 15-year-old school.

Experts thought the mold contaminated 30 square feet of the school. After

removing the roof and some walls, workers discovered the mold contaminated

27,000 square feet. That meant overtime pay for workers.

Contracts for the project were awarded without competitive bidding, district

officials said. But they said they don't know if that increased the price.

Gordon said the price would have been lower if the district had stretched

out the work, but that would have forced the school to use portable

classrooms longer.

" We had to complete the job and do what it took to get the school ready for

next year, " Gordon said Friday. " That's what the community expected. That's

what the board expected and that's what I expected. "

Also during the cleanup, Gordon authorized spending an additional $ 2.2

million to for renovations at Buena Vista, including a new heating and air

conditioning system. That worked originally was scheduled for 2006, but

doing it in conjunction with the mold cleanup would save money in the long

run, district officials said.

The cost overruns come at a bad time for the Greenville County School

District, which faces a $ 4.3 million shortfall in the general fund. It also

has a $ 20 million shortfall in the building fund, which has delayed

projects at three elementary schools for up to a year.

The board will hire a firm for $ 25,000 to review the work done at Buena

Vista.