The Board of Education and administrators at Marietta Public Schools have received final numbers on the new middle/high school facility. The original construction budget was $15,287,000, and the new numbers are almost 14 percent higher. The good news is that the district has a plan to account for the additional cost without placing any of that burden on their district’s taxpayers.
“We did expect some overage, maybe not quite to this extent, but we’re seeing inflation everywhere – at the grocery store, the gas pump -- everywhere,” said Superintendent Brandi Naylor. “In our economy, everything works together, so that means construction inflation, too. With the cost of construction increasing exponentially and the supply chain issues, we were afraid these things would influence the cost of our new facility.”
The final numbers came in at $17,413,000, approximately $2.1 million over the original construction budget. The new budget includes a $300,000 contingency to cover any additional expenses that might occur over the course of the project.
Learning of the increased budget left the district with some things to consider.
They could place the project on hold, and hope prices drop. However, that option would leave the school with an unusable high school and gymnasium parking area and a corner of the current high school demolished to make way for construction.
Experts say that trying to figure out how much COVID has driven construction prices up is like trying to hit a moving target because costs started rising early in the pandemic and have not stopped. So putting a temporary hold on the project provides no guarantee that prices will return to former levels, or ever drop at all.
They could also cut the size of the building.
“We felt like building a smaller facility wasn’t an option because we are not overbuilding,” said Naylor, “so if we cut classrooms out now, we would’ve eventually have to come back, bond again, and add them back. We know that our district is growing, so cutting the size didn’t seem like the right option.”
Naylor’s recommendation to the board was to accept the overage as a part of pandemic life and look for other ways to fund the additional costs.
At a special board meeting held on Wednesday, January 19, after some discussion, the board chose to approve the cost summary with no changes to the design of the building.
The plan calls for the school to cover the majority of the overage with federal COVID/ESSER funds.
“We have already been pre-approved by the state to use these funds for this purpose,” said Naylor, “so we don’t anticipate any issues there.”
The remaining overage will come from the school’s building fund.
At last Wednesday’s meeting, the board accepted the final cost summary and a list of bidders for everything except plumbing. After receiving no plumbing bids in the original bidding packages, construction managers report they are now in the process of preparing plumbing bids for the school board’s consideration at the regularly scheduled February 7 meeting. The new budget already includes a plumbing estimate, so there should be no changes to final costs after the plumbing is bid.
“Along with some amazing work done by our construction management team, the Marietta Board of Education has really pulled off a miracle,” Naylor explained. “No one could have foreseen the huge increase in construction pricing that took place over the last three months, but with the boards’ foresight and sound financial practices, we were able to weather this storm without compromising square footage or functionality of the new building.
“I appreciate the board’s firm desire and commitment to make sure out students and staff always have what they need to be successful.”
Dirt work is nearing completion, with foundation work next on the schedule.
“Foundation work should be starting in the next month or so now that the Phase 2 contractors have been approved,” Naylor remarked.