Contractor chosen for Lake Weir Middle replacement

Lake Weir Middle School [Homes.com]

Despite environmental challenges and transparency concerns, Skanska USA Building Inc. was awarded the bid to construct a new middle school to replace Lake Weir Middle School.

Marion County Public Schools Facilities Director Angela Usher spoke at the Marion County School Board Meeting on March 25 to give the board a recommended firm for construction management services on what is now called Middle School “DD.”

Usher said a firm selection process on Feb. 19 determined that Skanska was the best-suited contractor, scoring the highest. Still, the process was repeated on March 3 as the board was concerned scores were not recorded, determining the same result.

The most recent scores ranked Skanska first with a score of 99.33, and the closest firm, Ajax Building Company LLC, followed in second with a score of 98.67.

The procurement process for Middle School “DD” is the first to take place after the controversy over awarding the contract for the future high school in southwest Marion County.

In April of 2024, a district selection committee chose Wharton–Smith Inc. as the winning bidder for the $120 million contract to build a high school in Marion Oaks. In the days and weeks following, competing firm Ausley Construction and School Board Member Sarah James were accused of tampering with the procurement process by violating the “cone of silence” policy and issuing threats to school district staff, another board member, and Superintendent Diane Gullett. An external investigation by the GrayRobinson law firm substantiated the allegations.

For the middle school project, Usher said the site has to undergo gopher tortoise relocation before construction can start. She said this could delay the project by 10 months but hopes to work around it due to rising costs from tariffs and inflation.

“At this point where we are in the construction process, I feel that we should be doing a better job,” said Chair Lori Conrad.

Conrad said she voted in favor of Skanska to move the project forward despite the district’s inability to adhere to state statutes by not initially recording and reporting the firm selection scores.

“As a board member, I was not informed that interviews were taking place, and nor was the legal department,” she said.

Conrad said a committee was formed, and a consultant was hired after the initial scoring to comply with statutes, but she believes the new information about a 10-month delay shows transparency is still an issue.

School Board Member Sarah James was also concerned with transparency and noted the thousands of dollars it would take to relocate the tortoises.

She said if she hadn’t sent an email the day before the meeting asking for an update on environmental concerns, the delay Usher shared would not have been mentioned; only the firm recommendation would have been made.

Usher said she did not have a definite update but approximated the relocation only at the board’s request, saying, “I did not want to come here and say it is a 10-month delay when it might not be.”

She said the district did comply with the requirements as Statute 287 states services are discussed in a public meeting and do not have to be recorded, and Statute 286 states meetings with a contractor can be exempt and have to be recorded if so.

School Board Member Allison Campbell thanked Usher for the update and said an email was sent 10 days before this meeting that included most of the information Usher discussed.

Campbell said while she understands concerns from fellow board members, “we were made aware of these issues,” and they may not have read the email thoroughly.

She said she understands archeological concerns can change a timeline.

“If you’ve ever built a school in the state of Florida, you’ve dealt with these kinds of issues, and I have full confidence that we’ll get this done on time.”

School Board Member Nancy Thrower also recalled the email and said she wasn’t concerned either, as the tortoises were previously a problem that was solved at another school in Marion County.

Thrower said, “I’m definitely going to vote to move forward obviously because that is what’s best for kids.”

Now that Skanska has been approved, the agenda item says the district will negotiate a contract with the company, and the gopher tortoises can be mitigated by removal and disturbance from construction on the site.