District awards $10 million emergency contract manager for lead-related renovations; JCP to manage painters and movers

The Committee on Accountability, Finance and Personnel approved emergency construction and related purchases totaling $10 million to support lead-safety renovations across district schools and signed a contract with JCP to serve as overall contract manager.

Mike Terzo, interim director of facilities and maintenance, told the committee the district issued a request for proposals and evaluated three respondents before selecting JCP as the firm with the capacity to manage the accelerated work required over the summer. Terzo said JCP’s contract management fee is approximately $1.1 million; the broader $10 million figure covers painters, movers and other ancillary services that will be procured through or managed by JCP.

Director Zombor asked how the vendor was selected and what goods or services would be procured under the contract; Terzo said the district chose JCP after an evaluation process and emphasized the urgency of completing work before the start of the school year. “We needed to have all of these schools done by the start of the school year,” Terzo said.

Committee members raised questions about whether student-work-hour goals and contract-compliance requirements flow through to firms working under the JCP arrangement. Matt Chasin from the Office of Economic Beneficiary said he would review contract language and follow up. Administration officials said the procurement went through Contract Compliance Services; at the time of the meeting the emergency contract did not include specific student-hour requirements, but several painters and subcontractors identified for the work are Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) contractors.

The committee voted 5-0 to approve the administration’s recommendation to authorize the attached construction contracts, emergency contracts and emergency purchases. Director Zombor moved approval.

Board members also discussed longer-term capacity: the interim director said staffing proposals for the facilities department — including increases in painters or permanent staff — would be addressed in the department’s upcoming budget presentation.

The contract includes time-and-materials fees for contractors within typical ranges, according to administration. The district did not present a separate line-item budget for how the full $10 million will be apportioned across vendors at the committee meeting; administration said JCP will manage payments to painters, movers and other vendors and that a more detailed breakdown may be provided later.