The Fairfax County School Board is considering a series of changes that might help cut down costs and other hurdles for new school projects.
During a work session on Tuesday (May 6), the school board and Fairfax County Public Schools staff discussed ways to reduce costs for new construction or share that burden with other entities — like through public-private partnerships or cost-sharing agreements.
The proposed new strategies come as FCPS struggles to address overcrowding schools while construction costs continue to climb.
Three of the major concepts that the school board explored were:
- Construction manager at risk: a project delivery method where a construction manager, hired as early as the design phase, oversees a project with a guarantee to deliver it at a maximum price
- Alternative swing-space options: additional options for how to continue school operations while construction is underway on a new school project
- Public-private partnerships: cost-sharing programs where schools could share buildings with private development
Janice Szymanski, chief of facilities, services and capital programs for FCPS, outlined some of the potential “alternate project delivery methods.”
One of the most discussed possibilities was construction manager at risk and design-build, two alternatives to the current default design-bid-build system where FCPS works with a design team and then solicits bids for a contractor to handle construction.
In a design-build system, the bidding process to find the lowest-cost builder is removed, and one team stays with the project in both the design and construction phases.
The construction manager at risk option would involve FCPS hiring both a design team and a construction manager early in the process with a stipulated construction budget. The manager and FCPS would agree on a guaranteed maximum price for a project, which they would be responsible for overseeing and completing even if actual costs exceed that price.
“CM at risk allows for more collaboration through constant communication and better cost-control and reduced project delays,” Szymanski said.
In whatever arrangement FCPS utilizes, Szymanski said the goal is better “budget predictability.”
“We’re going to put in the [request for proposal] that it’s $40 million, and we’re going to have all the right players in the room making sure it stays at $40 million,” Szymanski said.
The school board also considered the possibility of utilizing “swing spaces” — alternate sites that host students while a school is under construction.
At the meeting, Szymanski presented several approaches. Construction could be implemented in phases, enabling students to still use parts of the building while other sections are being demolished/rebuilt, or schools could be built on vacant space on-site, such as former athletic fields, with the existing building getting demolished once the new facility opens.
Dranesville District School Board Representative Robyn Lady said the goal of viewing various swing space options is understanding the different tools that could be used for different projects, rather than finding a one-size-fits-all solution.
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t want more tools in our toolkit. I’m fully in support of all of these being added as options for when we’re doing a renovation,” Lady said.
FCPS could also explore public-private partnerships to try to ease the financial burden of new developments, Szymanski said. Those partnerships could involve FCPS splitting the cost of a new building, or offering other incentives, and then operating a school in conjunction with some other use.
Partnering for new construction could be even more pivotal as building material costs continue to rise. Szymanski suggested more optimistically that “together we can create outcomes neither could achieve effectively by themselves.”
“This approach underscores relevance of speed to market and risk-sharing, and those are things that really need to be considered given FCPS’ prolonged renovation cycles and the urgent need to address aging infrastructure,” Szymanski said.
Superintendent Michelle Reid said the proposed shifts in project development are likely to come up again in upcoming committee meetings between both the school board and the Board of Supervisors once the current budget season concludes.
