By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

The Osceola County School Board Tuesday voted unanimously to suspend the architectural contract for the firm designing a new school adjacent to Pleasant Hill Elementary School in south Kissimmee.

The move essentially shelves the DD middle school project as of May 15 for up to a year due to projected funding shortfalls. Schenkel Shultz Architecture, which saw its contract suspended by the School Board, will provide the district with preliminary construction documents and drawings completed by that date.

Bill Collins, chief business and financial officer for the Osceola County School District, at Tuesday’s School Board meeting predicted a shortfall of $18.5 million in the district’s five-year capital outlay plan if the school were built.

Board Member Jay Wheeler motioned  for the board to move forward with construction commitments on the school because the money allotted for the architectural contract – worth $965,635 – has already been mostly spent.

“I don’t want to throw $1 million in fees down the drain,” he said.

Wheeler’s motion failed for lack of a second.

District Chief Facilities Officer Scott Stegall also said that at this stage of the architectural contract, at least 75 percent of the nearly $1 million has already been spent.

Interim Superintendent Terry Andrews and the other board members cited the lack of money as the reason to reevaluate building the school.

“We cannot be the board remembered as the one who got the district into debt we can’t get out of,” Andrews said, adding he scheduled a board workshop May 31 to further discuss construction issues.

Board members mentioned possible solutions, such as expanding existing schools in the south Kissimmee area to accommodate students.

“There’s other alternatives, maybe a wing (built on an existing school),” board Member Julius Melendez said. “I don’t want to commit to a cause of action that will further indebt this district.”

Collins told board members he has “considerable fear” the Osceola County Commission will expand its transportation impact fee moratorium on commercial and industrial development to include multi-family housing. That action, school officials worry, could prompt a request from the county that multi-family housing not be subject to school impact fees, which are needed to fund new schools.

County Commissioners Monday briefly discussed expanding the moratorium but took no action pending further review. Commissioners in favor of expanding the moratorium said multi-family construction projects are more akin to commercial development than residential because the occupants typically don’t own the space where they live. The county moratorium was approved in January and applies to building permits pulled through Feb. 1, 2012.

“We’ve got some real challenges,” board Chairman Cindy Hartig said. “We’re short on money but the kids are still coming.”

Wheeler also expressed concern for halting the project as Stegall, the district’s chief facilities officer, recently resigned; his last day was Friday.

“We’re losing our expert,” Wheeler said. “We owe it to ourselves to have everyone of value at the table.”

While School Board attorney Suzanne D’Agresta explained the architectural contact states a suspension can be granted up to 365 days without the consumer price index being added to the price, Stegall pointed out other charges could be incurred for the delay.

If there are changes to the building code in the time the project is suspended, Stegall said the price increase would be negotiable. However, if better construction technology is introduced or the board’s preferences change, the contract price would increase.

The project also faced controversy last month when Turner Construction, which was ranked second for the project after joint venture Welbro-Quinn, filed a bid protest. Turner dropped the protest April 27 after meeting with district officials. Turner officials determined the protest would adversely affect the opening of the school in a timely manner, district spokeswoman Dana Schafer said in a statement at the time.

Middle school DD would serve an estimated 1,305 students and was previously slated to be completed for the 2012-13 school year. The school is also expected to be the district’s first LEED Certified building, by complying with green building principles as pursuant to Florida statutes.