Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

The learning curve┬áManaging the construction and renovation of public schools in one of the fastest-growing counties in the country is no small task. Bill Klein and Mike Raible of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools explain to Gay Sutton some of the processes that have been put in place to increase cost-effectiveness and efficiency, and reduce the risk. Located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) is a nationally acclaimed local education agency that has won recognition... ...┬áfor the quality of the education it is delivering to a population of more than 137,000 students ranging from pre-kindergarten through high school. As one of the largest school districts in the US, CMS runs 174 schools on behalf of the entire county. But this property footprint will not remain static for long. In the past 10 years the county population has increased by almost 40 percent, and there has been continuous pressure to upgrade, renovate and expand existing schools and to build new facilities to relieve overcrowding.ÔÇ£This year alone,ÔÇØ explains CMS director of capital projects Bill Klein, ÔÇ£we are building eight brand new schools, and by this I mean schools that have not existed before. Of these, four are elementary schools and two are middle schools, and these will open for students this August after just one year for construction. The final two schools are large high schools, and these will open next year.ÔÇØThe construction of completely new schools is just one method of increasing capacity. When it comes to the renovation or replacement of existing schools, the needs and safety of pupils and staff have to be met throughout the project, and this adds another level of complexity to the work. There are currently 11 CMS schools being renovated, added to or partially replaced, and one example of this is Long Creek Elementary School. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre building a replacement school on the same site,ÔÇØ says Klein, ÔÇ£with the old school continuing to operate beside it. This summer, weÔÇÖll move the folks from the old building to the new one while we complete the road construction work that the new site will need.ÔÇØ On many renovations itÔÇÖs essential to have the affected portion of the site vacant. When that happens, a decision is made at the design stage to either move the entire student and staff population to a different location for the duration of the workÔÇöin which case suitable space is identified in other existing schools that were previously replaced and kept standing for just this type of ÔÇ£swing-outÔÇØ useÔÇöor to re-house all or some of the classes on a site adjacent to the school being renovated. ÔÇ£We have a number of modular classrooms, both single mobiles and a modular building that holds 10 classrooms equipped with toilets,ÔÇØ Klein says. ÔÇ£And these are strictly for this swing use, so the schools can continue operating while we do the renovation work. WeÔÇÖve utilized these swing options 30 times in the past eight years.ÔÇØThe population of the county is predicted to expand by a further 40 percent over the next 10 years. Effective construction planning is therefore crucial if CMS is to continue delivering a high-quality education to the local children. The man tasked with this is executive director for planning and program management Mike Raible, and he has developed a very clear and concise process for this. ÔÇ£We begin by looking at enrollment projections, calculating how many students we expect to have at each site over the next 10 years. These are then translated into the number of teachers weÔÇÖll require at those sites. Then by comparing these figures with the number of classrooms we currently have, we arrive at the number of additional classrooms that weÔÇÖll need,ÔÇØ he says.The next step is to examine the local population demographics and identify the communities in which new schools could be placed or the schools where extra capacity needs to be provided. ÔÇ£We then prioritize these projects by when they will be needed,ÔÇØ Raible says. His attention then turns to matching the funding available to the building needs.ÔÇ£Sometime this just doesnÔÇÖt match, and then we have to prioritize the capacity needs. We have a matrix by which we score each of these projects so that we end up with one 10-year list of priorities. Then on the list we draw a line at the level of funding we can achieve. Everything above the line is a request for funding. Everything below the line is demoted to the next request,ÔÇØ Raible explains.The funding process then proceeds, and once approved, the projects are turned over to KleinÔÇÖs team, who take it through the procurement for design, engineering and construction and finally to occupancy. CMS uses three primary methods for procuring and managing the design and construction. First, there is the traditional design-bid-build bidding process. But more recently the group has been pioneering the use of the construction management at risk process, a delivery method by which a construction managerÔÇöwho acts as a consultant to the owner in the development and design phases and then as a general contractor during the construction phaseÔÇöis committed to delivering the project within a guaranteed maximum price. ÔÇ£This has been a good vehicle for us,ÔÇØ Klein says, ÔÇ£allowing us to take on larger and more complex projects concurrently with our more traditional design-bid-build process.ÔÇØ The third procurement method is design-build, and CMS is also the only county in North Carolina permitted to use it without going to the state for approval. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve done seven projects in this way, all of them successful.ÔÇØ To manage the projects currently under construction, Klein has four contract management teams. A contract manager and quality manager ensure that the design and construction work conforms to the standards and specifications that define such elements as the requirements of the curriculum, the school and the administration. Meanwhile, an administrator handles elements such as accounting, budgeting and scheduling. These teams then take the projects through construction to warranty.At each stage of design and construction, clearly defined processes have been developed to ensure quality and value for money. ÔÇ£Any business that is to be successfulÔÇöand undertaking construction and renovation work at this level is a businessÔÇöneeds to have the right processes in place,ÔÇØ Klein says. ÔÇ£We have a fully implemented process and procedures program dealing with everything from how to write a contract or process an order to how to manage design reviews. This was flow-charted, reviewed and improved, and then tied integrally together from beginning to end.ÔÇØAs a consequence, there is consistency of performance and quality across the entire construction process, and this helps to minimize the risks and eliminate mistakes. ÔÇ£It also provides a tremendous feedback loop,ÔÇØ Klein says. ÔÇ£We look upon the teachers, pupils and maintenance staff ÔÇöthose who will use the schoolsÔÇöas our customers. So we measure our performance with them, post-occupancy. ItÔÇÖs a big part of our improvement process, and we are currently seeking ISO 9000 certification of our processes.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á