Soil Issue Will Delay Construction of Francis Howell Gym

Tests on the soil at Francis Howell High School revealed a problem.

Before the base for the new gymnasium can be put down, soil tests were ordered to make sure the ground could support the building. The results came in and the soil was found to be unsuitable. Thursday night, the Francis Howell Board of Education, by a 6-1 vote, approved funding to remove the bad soil and fix the issue so construction can continue on the gymnasium project.

Board member Mark Lafata was the lone vote against the construction change order. Lafata first disagreed with the administration calling the issue a change order. Lafata said a change order is a modification of an agreed contract that has an approved bid. The change order presented on Thursday was an estimation of costs, and not a final bid.

Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple said the reason the change order called for an estimation—listed at $375,000—was because of the nature of the project. Supple said that a problem above ground is easier to to predict. Dry wall, for example, has a set cost. The soil issue is mostly unknown because, while tests revealed bad soil, the full extent is unknown. The District will really only know how much bad soil is underground when all the bad soil is removed.

Lafata also didn’t like the idea of what he called handing a blank check to Hoehner Associates. The approved plan called for the approval of $375,000, but the project could cost more or less depending on how much of the soil is unsuitable.

“In a sense, you’re asking us to hand over a blank check and say, ‘Just don’t spend over this,’” Lafata said.

Lafata wanted to have a more concrete idea of just how much the project was going to cost. 

Making the issue complicated was that the issue was time sensitive. It was estimated the soil removal and fix would take up to four weeks. The project can’t move forward until the soil is taken care of, so Board action was needed soon to not delay the project any more.

Supple said it was like if you bought a new kitchen sink but found out you had a problem with the plumbing. You still can, and will, use the new sink, but you have to fix the plumbing first.

The rest of the Board disagreed with Lafata’s issues and approved the change order so the project can keep moving.

Tax Talk Continues

The Board of Education will meet again September 15 and the Board will approve the new tax rate. With declining revenue from the state and property taxes, projections have the tax rate going up from $5.13 to $5.18 to make sure the District stays revenue neutral.

Lafata continued to push for budget neutral—the District is expected to opperate at a profit next year in order to save money for later. Lafata wants the District to lower taxes.

Lafata had an issue with the special purpose tax levy. He wanted to make sure the District budgets for the future without the tax levy included.

Before the final vote will take place at the next meeting, Supple will run more numbers and come up with projections for a tax rate of $5.08, $5.13 and $5.18. Supple will also provide a projection that doesn’t rely on the tax levy.

Policy Moves Forward

The Board at the July 21 meeting. Unhappy with the language, the Board sent the policies dealing with strategic committees, standing committees and task forces back to the drawing board. The revised policies were presented Thursday.

Despite Board member Mike Hoehn’s continued objections that Superintendent Dr. Pam Sloan can’t form a task force without approval, the policy talk wasn’t derailed. Sloan said she had no issues with the policy and the Administration said it approved of the policies.

Board member Dr. Cynthia Bice’s only comment was to request a dictionary or glossary of terms so that everyone is on the same page when discussing task forces and things like that.

The Board will vote on the policy at the Sept. 15 meeting.