CPDC hears public-private partnership study; requests work sessions on procurement, swing spaces and office conversions

Fairfax County Public Schools staff reviewed a consultant's analysis of public-private partnership (P3) options for a group of seven schools and described three package scenarios and two P3 models during the Jan. 16 CPDC meeting.

Facilities Director Ms. Szymanski told the committee the work began in early 2024 and centered on cost-benefit analysis for a group of six elementary schools and one middle school drawn from the current renovation queue. "The result was a group of 7 schools," Szymanski said, and the consultant modeled both a design-build-finance option and a design-build-finance-with-light-operations-and-maintenance option across several packaging choices.

Committee members focused on schedule, financing term and swing-space approaches. CPDC Chair Amber Dunn said the report's Table 1 (page 33) shows similar design-and-construction cost estimates for the P3 package and FCPS's current approach, with a small reported difference in the model: "a difference of only $1,000,000," Dunn said, while noting that swing-space costs were lower in the P3 scenario.

Staff described three packaging options: a full seven-school package, a version focused on sites where on-site swing construction is feasible, and an intermediate package the marketplace found attractive. The consultant's market sounding indicated developer interest in packages that reduce or eliminate student phasing by using on-site swing construction at schools with sufficient acreage.

CPDC discussed alternative procurement methods that would allow selection on qualifications rather than low bid (design-build and construction-manager-at-risk, CMAR). Facilities staff explained that current school board policy would have to be revised to authorize those procurement methods and that any change would follow state procurement law requirements.

After discussion, the committee voted unanimously to request two board work sessions: one on design-build and CMAR procurement methods combined with opportunities for commercial office-space conversion and optimizing existing FCPS assets; and a second on public-private partnerships and swing-space strategies. The motion was moved by the CPDC chair and seconded by Miss Dixit.

CPDC also voted unanimously to refer the consultant P3 report and the facilities staff response to FPAC for FPAC to prepare an analysis and recommendations in advance of the relevant work sessions. Separately, the committee requested a closed-session briefing for school board members to review vendor responses to the facilities-condition-assessment (FCA) RFI; that motion was moved by Mister McDaniel and approved unanimously.

Staff said the consultant found a range of financial and delivery tradeoffs across the models and recommended further study tailored to FCPS priorities and financing assumptions. Staff noted that P3 structures vary widely by term and scope, and that a longer financing term (staff suggested 30 years) is commonly used to realize potential benefits from private financing and life-cycle services.

Ending: CPDC requested the two work sessions and FPAC review, and asked facilities to return with follow-up materials, including comparative analyses of procurement options, swing-space feasibility for candidate sites (Cub Run was noted as a near-term candidate for a site-specific analysis), and legal/financial frameworks to inform board direction.