MCPS awards high school bid to Wharton-Smith after controversy

Kevin Sheilley, president and CEO of the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership, speaks in approval of moving forward with the new high school project by awarding the bid to Wharton-Smith Inc. at a Marion County School Board workshop on July 11 [Ocala Gazette].

The Marion County School Board has opted to move forward with the new high school project by awarding the bid to Wharton-Smith Inc., the firm that was chosen at the beginning of a monthslong controversy over the district’s procurement policies.

The decision was made on July 11 to give the district the best chance of opening the school for the 2026-27 academic year. The board approved the contract after a workshop to discuss next steps and a special school board meeting was convened to make a final vote.

In April, 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.

Before the school board resumed the process of deciding which contractor would build the high school, attorney Brian Williams and Jaime Torrens from Miami-Dade County Public Schools were brought in to conduct an external review of Marion County Public Schools’ overall construction procurement policies, assessing the district’s compliance with state statutes on procurement, and compared the district’s procurement policies with those of other school districts and local governments in Florida.

The review found MCPS’s policies were valid and legal, but the report recommended some improvement to the policies. They also found that MCPS deviated from its policy when it allowed James to serve on a selection committee for the project and to score bid submittals and conduct interviews with bidders.

In late June, the school board was presented with three options for how to move forward with the project. The school board chose to award the bid to Wharton–Smith, with conditions that a committee will be formed soon to gather input on what changes are needed for the procurement process for future projects in order to avoid issues like those that arose during the high school bid process.

The Facilities Department has already put several changes to district policy in motion, based on the recommendations made by the Williams and Torrens investigation.

First, a recommendation was made for the school district to include language to its requests for qualifications (RFQ) for construction projects to specifically describe the scoring and evaluation criteria that is used to evaluate proposals. To accomplish this, the Facilities Department added a link to RFQs to show the scoring criteria. Once the committee is formed and gives further policy recommendations, this link will be updated with any new scoring and evaluation criteria.

Another recommendation was made for the district to provide training to the selection committee prior to the release of solicitation, including ensuring that all who are involved in the process are aware of the “cone of silence” policy. To accomplish this, the Facilities Department has added a “cone of silence” acknowledgment form and another form for members to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and assure confidentiality.

“Prior to the review of the submittals for applicants and again prior to the interviews, each selection committee member will be trained on the criteria to be evaluated, scoring applications, and final decision procedures,” according to the Facilities Department. “Each selection committee member will have to sign an acknowledgment of understanding for the scoring and evaluation of applicants and the steps of the procurement process through to the selection committee tabulation of scores and final decision. At all three trainings, each selection committee member will be reminded of the “cone of silence.’”

Another recommendation was for the board to alter its ethics and procurement policies to address school board members’ involvement on selection committees. If the policy is changed to bar school board members from participating in procurement, this could also impact other committees that decide how money is spent, when those recommendations will eventually be voted on by the board.

James brought up the idea that if school board members are not allowed to serve on any procurement selection committees, then they should also not be allowed to serve on any other committees that involve money.

“The Code of Conduct (committee) doesn’t involve money, so we don’t necessarily need to remove a board member from that committee because there’s no ability for influence there attached to monetary value,” James said. “But any item that we would vote on that is attached to a monetary value, a board member needs to be removed from.”

School Board Member Allison Campbell, who serves on the insurance committee, brought up potentially stepping away from that committee in the interest of uniformity since there is not any policy or procedure dictating board members’ involvement on committees for the future.

School Board Chair Nancy Thrower argued that every circumstance is different, and creating rules like these could negatively impact the board’s ability to be involved with the inside workings of the school district.

“I would like to note that this is the first time that we’ve had a board member on the selection committee, but we’ve had a board member on the insurance committee since the beginning of time,” Thrower said. “Based on what I’ve observed (with the insurance committee), there have not been any issues at all…I just don’t want to put ourselves into a box.”

While the Williams/Torrens investigation found the district’s policies and procedures were valid and legal as is, they noted that the issues that arose with the new high school’s procurement process were caused by individuals deviating from existing procedures and recommended that everyone involved with the process strictly adhere to procedures in the future.

One of the largest debated topics throughout the initial procurement process and the following investigation was the weight of local preference when awarding bids. Ausley Construction and the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership stressed their belief that local construction firms should be chosen to do local work at every opportunity to do so.

Within the past 20 years, 70% percent of bids for projects over $4 million are awarded to local contractors. Furthermore, for the seven major projects that have taken place in the past 20 years, six of which were to build new schools, every bid has been awarded to a local contractor.

Currently, construction is in progress for two new elementary schools in southwest Marion County. Both projects are being done by local contractors.

“The subcontractors that we have for both elementary schools to date are 20 different local businesses that then, in turn, most likely have local workers,” said Barbara Dobbins, MCPS executive director of operations and emergency management.

The district was encouraged to enhance local preference by creating a reward system for contractors who utilize local companies as subcontractors. The procurement procedures committee is going to review the existing policy to see how this recommendation and any other potential changes might be necessary.

“As the district continues to evaluate its procurement policies related to construction, another
program consideration involves the development of a small business enterprise policy. In recent years, small business enterprise programs have proven to be a highly effective alternative to minority and women-based enterprise programs and when structured appropriately have resulted in a significant increase in equitable distribution of work amongst local small businesses who would not otherwise have access to securing local government contracts,” according to the investigation.

The Facility Procurement Procedures Committee will also consider this recommendation when reviewing policy.

Another recommendation was made for the district to frequently analyze and update procurement procedures, including scoring criteria and weight distribution, and involve local stakeholders in the process.

“District staff agree that the Facility Procurement Procedures Committee should include a diverse group of stakeholders. The committee will seek input from the various district departments, such as Facilities, Technical Services, Purchasing, and Business Services, as well as individuals serving in procurement positions in local governmental agencies, and business owner representation,” according to the Facilities Department.

To make future selection committees more neutral on the outcomes of bids, the investigation also recommended that the Purchasing Department facilitate the scoring and evaluation process, rather than the Facilities Department, and to also have an internal auditor conduct the tabulation of scoring.

“District staff is exploring the possibility of reallocating a district staffing unit to oversee the construction procurement process and considering moving the process to be under the Purchasing Department,” according to the Facilities Department.

Another recommendation was that the district consider throwing out high and low scores during its selection process and rotate the people who serve on selection committees. The Facility Procurement Procedures Committee is going to consider this when it conducts its review.

Additionally, the school board is going to vote on several policy changes at its next policy review. The board will vote that the “cone of silence” be referenced in all policies for construction or construction-related professional services. It will also vote on implementing a debarment policy for any vendor who violates federal, state or school board policy so that they may not be awarded any future bids.

The district also plans to take audio and video recordings of the procurement selection process from this point forward.

While the board decided to honor the existing procurement procedure by awarding Wharton–Smith the bid for the new high school, the future selection of contractors for these high-stakes district construction projects is going to look a lot different once the committee reports its recommendations for changes in policy.