The so-called summer “blitz” of desperately needed repairs in the crumbling D.C. Public Schools has been slowed by months thanks to missteps and poor planning on the part of school officials, the D.C. Council was told Monday.
Allen Lew, acting director of the fledgling Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, said the all-out repair effort, which Mayor Adrian Fenty had promised would be completed by the first day of school, will now last well into the fall.
The $41 million program, which is barely off the ground, was stunted by low cost estimates and incomplete work orders and will now cost at least $10 million more than anticipated, Lew told the council’s Committee of the Whole.
“Right now, I’m just trying to salvage this whole summer program,” he said.
“Incomplete information” led to the declaration that the blitz would be complete by Aug. 27, the first day of school, acting Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso said. Now, the school system simply hope to get enough work done by opening day so “that people notice.” Repairs during the fall semester will be scheduled to
minimize classroom disruption, he said. As an example of the “dysfunctional system” he now leads, Lew pointed to one school where the work order sought repairs for a leaky roof but did not include any dollars for gutters or leaders.
“Now they have pointing problems in the brick, and now they have interior damage from the water that’s been streaming down the side of the building,” he said.
Lew, who was hand-picked to manage the District’s $2.3 billion school modernization program, described the culture within the school system bureaucracy as “bad” but “manageable.” He hopes to clear thousands of back work orders within a year, six months longer than anticipated.
Council Chairman Vincent Gray said he was surprised by the news, but he expressed “a lot of faith in Allen Lew” to get the job done.
“Thank God we’ve got a change coming,” Ward 8 Council Member Marion Barry said, referring to today’s expected confirmation of Lew as permanent facilities director.
