Members of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, council have questions about over-budget school constructions, and they want answers as to why the cost is burgeoning.
The council wants a state inspector general to look into the constructions. In response, the school system’s CEO is blasting the council for leaping to conclusions based on bad information.
Back in December, members of the council were briefed on construction contracts by former employees, which led to concerns about increasing costs at the beginning and middle of projects.
On Tuesday, the council’s Education and Workforce Development Committee voted to ask a state inspector general to start looking into those contracts.
One area the proposed letter touched on was costs described as “other,” which had the council asking whether that’s leading to inflated costs paid for by tax payers.
“Why do we spend more than other jurisdictions?” asked Council member Krystal Oriadha, who is the vice chair of the committee. “Why do we have a line that says ‘other’ and we can’t account for it? Why are projects over budget, over time, continuously have change orders? And those are fair questions.”
The day after the council meeting, school system CEO Monica Goldson fired back at some of the allegations coming from the council, saying “it is concerning that publicly shared inaccuracies could prove detrimental to our joint mission.”
Touching back on some of the information presented to the council at a retreat held back in December, Goldson’s letter said the average changeover — changes to the scope of the original contract — rate was 4.71% in May 2016, not the over 20% number she said the council was told back in December.
Goldson also said the county has improved pay and staffing levels that make the county more competitive and allow for better management of projects on the county’s end.
“We have worked hard to plug the holes that were causing delays several years ago,” Goldson wrote. She blames current delays on the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement, which she said was so understaffed that it could add a full year of delays.
She also argued that rising costs could be attributed to increased costs of construction materials and labor, which have gone up about 20% nationwide and 30% in the D.C. area, according to Goldson.
“I would encourage her to send in her comments to the inspector general,” said Council member Ed Burroughs, who chairs the Education and Work Force Development Committee. “That’s the point of an investigation. A neutral, outside entity that’s charged with investigating fraud, waste, and abuse will come to a determination.”
While there are clearly suspicions, Burroughs stopped short of alleging fraud.
“There’s certainly waste, and there appears to be some level of incompetence,” Burroughs said. “Ultimately, I’m going to reserve full judgment until an investigation is done.”
He said he was hopeful Goldson would cooperate with any inspector general investigation.
Asked about the back and forth between the school system and the council, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks blamed costs increase that “makes all of us uncomfortable” on inflation, too.
“School construction costs have escalated around the state mainly because of inflation,” said Alsobrooks, who hadn’t seen the letter when she spoke. “It’s something we’re going to keep our eye on. We’re going to make sure that every dollar is accounted for.”
“We have to be good stewards of the public’s money,” Alsobrooks added.
In Goldson’s letter, she also lamented that the schools system wasn’t invited to speak at the committee meeting and give its side of the story. She concluded by saying that she was “hopeful that an opportunity will be afforded to Prince George’s County Public Schools to share accurate information by current PGCPS employees.”
For its part, the council closed out the subject on Monday by directing staff to set up a time when Goldson could appear for an oversight hearing in front of the council. It’s not clear when that will be yet.
