Search for an Architect Begins Anew

The Springs School District has launched a second search for an architect and engineer, along with a new search for a construction management company, to help it deal with what many people say is an overcrowded and aging school building. The announcement came amid continued criticism during Monday’s meeting over the district’s handling of the fees it paid to the architect, whom the district had previously hired without a formal school board vote.

The school board voted on Monday to reject the bids it received in July from its first open search, which had come under scrutiny from community members who said the district’s initial attempt was rushed and flawed. Its first request for proposals was dated June 25 and gave interested companies approximately five business days to submit bids.

Carl Fraser, the district’s interim business administrator, explained on Tuesday that the district opted to start a fresh search — which begins today with a request for proposals published in this newspaper and in an online database of contractors the district is using for the first time — because “the community expressed some concerns about the whole process.”

“Based on those concerns, the board decided to convene a committee to review the process and if possible develop a new request for proposals, and that’s what we did,” Mr. Fraser said.

The district also seemed to heed the advice of Carole Campolo, a resident who formerly worked with public contracts for New York City, who said on several occasions that the district should do more outreach to qualified architects and engineers. The school board approved a $195 expense to join BidNet, a statewide Internet database of more than 9,000 contractors. Mr. Fraser said the database includes at least 300 architects and 200 construction management companies.

The district’s move drew cautious approval from Ms. Campolo, who said during the meeting that it appeared to be a step in the right direction. “I’m delighted that you have decided to abandon the request for proposals you had out there,” she said. She complimented Mr. Fraser for “a more professionally managed and professionally thought-out request for proposals process.”

Ms. Campolo did, however, request that the administration pay close attention to keeping the bidding process “a level playing field” for all interested parties, and recommended that the district further fine-tune its system for evaluating the bids it hopes to receive.

In this new effort, potential bidders have until Dec. 15 to submit proposals. Mr. Fraser said building tours will be encouraged. The district’s architect selection committee will meet to rate those proposals by Dec. 21, and will schedule interviews with finalists during the week of Jan. 4. Mr. Fraser said he anticipates the school board will choose one of the bids on Jan. 11, and shortly thereafter, the district will convene a concept committee to talk about the specifics of needs, designs, and cost.

But it’s not an entirely fresh start, Mr. Fraser said Tuesday. The design work done by BBS Architects, even though the circumstance under which it was done has come under criticism, will be considered. “That was good work,” he said. “We paid for it. We will consider all inputs from all sources. The facilities committee did work, BBS did work, and whatever other source of work that was put into the process will be looked at to develop the new concepts for the project.”

Separate from her comments on the new architect search, Ms. Campolo handed the board a highly critical analysis of the fees paid by the Springs School District to its previous firm, BBS Architects, during Monday’s meeting. While the school board did not pass a resolution authorizing the district to pay BBS Architects, it nevertheless paid at least $26,500 of about $34,000 in invoices submitted by the firm for what was to initially be an $8,000 project.

In her analysis of those invoices, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by another community member, Ms. Campolo questioned high numbers of hours billed in single days on invoices and involvement of BBS Architects in about seven separate projects that appear to not have been discussed publicly during board meetings. Among those projects were two involving an evaluation of the Springs Youth Association building, which was by East Hampton Town on district property, with one project titled “SYA building district office conversion.” Ms. Campolo wrote that she believes the district has had “shockingly deficient handling of these few invoices and extraordinary cost overruns.”

Liz Mendelman, the school board president, explained that some of the projects were needed to get educational certificates of occupancy from the New York State Education Department for structures such as the school greenhouse and the Springs Youth Association building. However, Tim Frazier, the school board vice president, asked Mr. Fraser, the business administrator, to review Ms. Campolo’s analysis. “Those are good questions she is asking,” he said, and Mr. Fraser agreed to review them.

During Monday’s meeting, the school board also informally agreed to schedule a work session every other month in addition to its regular meetings. The idea was pitched by the newest member of the board, Barbara Dayton, who said she envisioned a meeting where the board could delve deeper into educational issues impacting Springs, such as Common Core developments and program needs, in the presence of the public.

“I feel like we never have a chance to talk about this stuff,” Ms. Dayton said.

The board also hired a new special education teacher to assist in the second-grade classrooms as part of the district’s response to parents’ and teachers’ requests for help managing large class sizes. John J. Finello, the superintendent, said an analysis of students’ needs showed more special education support was needed in kindergarten, second, and fourth grades. The new teacher will also provide some support to the kindergarten classes, while a current special education teacher who was working in both the second and fourth grades will now focus solely on fourth grade. The new system was to start Tuesday.