Belvidere board reviews facilities master plan costs and role of performance contractor NexSys Solutions

Belvidere CUSD 100 administrators told the school board on May 19 that the district is beginning the first phase of a multi‑year facilities master plan and has contracted NexSys Solutions as a performance contractor to help scope, bid and manage the work.

The update explained why the district moved some work from its operations budget and earlier consultant estimates into a capital plan and a bond‑funded health/life safety program, and warned that initial consultant cost estimates have differed substantially from awarded contract prices.

Superintendent Dr. Shug and Chief Business Officer Mrs. Armstrong said the district has already spent $225,000 from the operations and maintenance budget on selected projects and that the district set aside roughly $32,000,000 for the approved capital program. Armstrong told the board that initial consultant estimates for some projects were far lower than awarded contracts: a track repair estimated at about $40,000 was awarded at $890,000, and an $80,000 tennis court estimate was awarded at $632,000. Armstrong said those discrepancies drove the district to hire NexSys Solutions to produce a tighter scope and to manage bidding and construction.

Armstrong said NexSys completed an initial scope review and asked to postpone a follow‑up meeting one week to clarify open questions with the original architect/estimator Larson & Darby. She said NexSys will produce a detailed timeline and will meet with district staff biweekly. "They are very eager to make this a flagship district," Armstrong said, adding NexSys will act as a project manager to aggregate work, manage contractors, and monitor schedules and budgets.

Maintenance supervisor Mr. Winters joined administration in describing the contractor role: NexSys will run the bidding, coordinate contractors, perform walk‑through inspections before state Regional Office of Education (ROE) approval, and, Armstrong said, "they absorb that cost" if change orders result from initial scoping errors. Armstrong noted that many projects are funded from the board‑approved capital set‑aside and that the district has a drawdown schedule for health and life safety funds.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the contractor role, the drawdown of capital funds, and how projects such as the $6,000,000 Perry renovation will be staged to reduce disruption. Armstrong said NexSys will prepare a graphic showing the $32,000,000 funding pool and monthly drawdowns as projects are awarded. Armstrong and Winters said routine project approvals will continue to come to the board and that the business services committee will provide ongoing oversight.

The report did not present a new contract for board approval during the meeting; it was delivered as an update on scope, timeline and oversight.

The district will return to the board with NexSys’s initial timeline and a more detailed project-by-project scope and cost plan later this summer.