Cumberland panel rescinds earlier limit, reauthorizes superintendent to approve $25,000 construction change orders

Cumberland School Committee members voted unanimously on Wednesday to rescind a Jan. 8 decision that had altered the process for approving construction change orders, then reauthorized the superintendent to approve individual change orders up to $25,000 through Dec. 30, 2026.

The move began as a motion to rescind the Jan. 8 action; after discussion about the committee's role, the town council's funding authority and the local building-committee review process, the rescission passed on a 6-0 voice vote. The committee then took a separate vote to grant the superintendent the limited authority to bind the district to change orders of up to $25,000 each, also passing 6-0.

Committee members debated the trade-off between local oversight and project timeliness. Mister Reagan, a committee member who spoke during the discussion, said delays in approving change orders can slow work and raise costs, noting that in his experience such delays "could cost upwards of $300,000." Other members said the process in place since 2018 had typically kept projects on schedule.

Megan Havrilla, a representative of Collier (the construction team contracted on the district projects), described how the contractor handled approvals to avoid work stoppage: "So when a change order would come in, I would send it to Mark both Mark Ferriero, Mark Lindgren," she said, explaining that two designated building-committee representatives could provide an initial email approval so work could proceed while final payment and the formal change-order (PCO) approval waited for a subsequent building-committee meeting.

Member Goldstein said she had not intended to slow projects with her earlier vote and announced she would change her position to support rescinding the Jan. 8 decision. "I am very clearly changing my vote... Because I think that I did not intend to put roadblocks up to a project. So I apologize," she said.

The committee recorded the two votes as 6-0. The superintendent's new authority is limited to individual change orders up to $25,000 and is set to expire on Dec. 30, 2026 unless the committee renews or terminates the authorization. The Collier representative said routine, budgeted items had typically been covered by project contingency funds, and only change orders that exceeded the project contingency would be returned to the school committee for review.

After the votes, committee leadership said new business for the evening was moot. The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn, which passed 6-0.