By Rick Madewell

Assistant Editor

Osceola County School Board Chairwoman Cindy Hartig at Thursday's board workshop continued her quest to view work logs of construction crews’ progress on projects.

The three-hour board workshop included input from top administrators from the School District's construction, finance and planning departments.

Hartig was relentless in demanding to see copies of the work logs from Jose Manent, director of construction services, who initially met the request with a lengthy explanation. Then, after another demand, Manent indicated a meeting of construction officials would have to take place first. After yet another, even firmer demand by Hartig, Manent said the district chairwoman would have those documents in front of her by the end of the workday Friday.

“I have no trust in how things are being done,” Hartig said. “I see zero accountability. I ask for explanations and I get these long-winded excuses.”

The School Board also indicated it wanted to keep a building official who was led to believe his services were no longer needed.

“Maybe some of us didn’t like what he had to say because it made us look bad and that we weren’t doing our jobs,” Hartig said. “I think now he feels intimidated and we’ve created a hostile work environment.”

Members of the board purposely did not say his name and it was suggested by Member Tom Long that he be kept with the district as well as someone being placed in a position to inspect projects after. It was later learned the board was speaking about Building Official Wayne Smith, who works with Bureau Veritas. It is unclear why his name was being purposely avoided.

“The safety of our children is more important to me than anything else,” Hartig said.

Jim Hamilton, who had worked in Hillsborough County for 38 years and is currently serving as a consultant to the Osceola County School Board, confronted some concerns of the district regarding protocols of construction, saying that the types of construction for this district are varied.

“There is no magic bullet in construction,” he said. “There are many ways to do things. The board wants the most efficient and effective method of construction. Sometimes things have good outcomes and sometimes they provide not-so-good outcomes. Most provide for your plans to be reviewed and in compliance. Time is of the essence, but not to the point of sacrificing quality.”

Hamilton also touched on the district’s finances, saying general revenue projections would be significantly lower, and gave some cautious praise to the district for getting through the recession thus far.

“The good news is, you’ve been able to do it,” he said. “The bad news is … you’ve been able to do it.”

Budget-wise, he added, the district is functioning at about the 2002 level.

Hamilton also indicated that the health insurance for district retirees is in jeopardy.

“There will be major reforms in the government this year,” he said. “We are on a very poor recovery track. Recovery is happening in other states in the nation, but not in Florida. We have miles and miles to go.”

In other business, the district discussed the number of portable classrooms, which now stands at 366, a significant reduction from years ago. Rental cost for these facilities is $3.4 million, down from $9.3 million when the district had hundreds more.

It also was agreed that the district would pursue a forensic audit of the facilities department.