OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The idea of a procedural process regarding change orders to hold contractors accountable and make delays and updated timelines more transparent proved to be a lively topic of discussion at the Marion County Public Schools meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
The concern of MCPS Board Chair Dr. Sarah James was if the board has policy, and the superintendent has procedure around change orders, then they have to come back before the board if the change orders exceed $25,000 (in additional expense).
“A change order that has a time change has to come to the board,” said James. ‘The change order that came before us tonight was a 46-calendar day increase. The contractor for tonight did a very good job of outlining why those 46 days occurred. and we don’t need to go after liquidated damages because there were just situations that occurred.”
However, in this particular case, this wasn’t something that needed to be brought back before the board, as it was procedural, said Dr. Danielle Brewer, MCPS interim superintendent.
After the fact
What was disconcerting to James about the change order wasn’t something that was unique, as it happens routinely: Prior to July, the contractor and the facilities department knew that the work was going to be delayed because there were issues with the Department of Environmental Protection, and then those issues triggered a delay in ordering, which triggered a delay in working on school campuses to not interrupt student work, which meant going to weekends.
The school district knew there was going to be a delay. But the change order that was attached to the Nov. 11, agenda was dated Sept. 23, 2025, which is after substantial completion, said James.
“We’re allowing contractors to play Monday morning quarterback,” said James. “They get as much time as they want to get the work done, and then when they have gotten to the point where the work is done, we then have a change order completed that they sign to say, ‘here’s why it took this long.’ We all know it’s much easier on Monday morning to figure out why the plays didn’t work in a football game. So, the letter that the contractor writes, they’re able to very clearly articulate all of the reasons it didn’t work because they know exactly how many days they have to make up for and then they plug them all into the timeline.”
Setting a standard
James’s request to the board was, as soon they know a project is going to be delayed, they have the contractor complete a change order with a new substantial completion date based on all of the factors that they’re aware of and come back to the board with it immediately.
“Then they are held to task to finish as expediently as they thought they would,” said James. “If they do not finish as expediently as they thought they would, we then are able to hold them accountable for liquidated damages. But getting the paperwork after it’s completed, signing the change order after the substantial completion date has been met, in my opinion, is having very loose reins in a season when we have an excessive amount of work.”
Maintaining relationships
The first thing that MCPS Vice Chair Lori Conrad, District no. 2 thinks about as a business owner, is that she doesn’t want the community to think that school board is more difficult to work for then they already are.
“I think there’s balance that you have to find, and maybe this is the balance, I don’t have an answer for you right at this moment,” said Conrad. “I feel like I need to think about it and look at it more closely. But I do think that you have to find balance in the companies that you’re doing business with. We don’t want to be the person that nobody wants to work for either.”
Dr. Allison Campbell, District no. 1, said she needs more time to process the request, understanding what Chair James was asking for, understanding how the procedures could be adjusted, but also respecting that the school board doesn’t need to be a difficult entity to work with and for. Campbell suggested that maybe this should be a work session agenda item in the future.
Board Member Rev. Eric Cummings, District no. 3, values building and maintaining good relationships with the people the school district is working with but also understands that when business is being done there is a level of accountability that you must have.
“I think we do need to bring this back to a work session,” said Cummings. “I do think that Ms. Usher could give us some insight on this, I tend to leave things that I’m not an expert at to the experts, and I think that we have hired experts that can help us navigate through some of these things.”
Timing is everything
The school district just went through an extremely comprehensive overhaul, said MCPS Board Member Nancy Thrower, Dist. no. 4.
“It mystifies me a bit there still appears to be, with what you’ve shared some loose ends, but if there are, and if there are recommendations to further enhance our processes, then I’m always for the continuous improvement,” said Thrower. “I also know that the contractors that we do business with, it’s just as important to them to have a good reputation as it is important to us for them to have a good reputation.”
If there are multiple small change orders and they add up to an amount that leads up to the superintendent’s amount, which can be up to $25,000, there’s no need to present multiple change orders that may come from separate subprojects to the board, because there’s a limited number that are allowed to be presented before the board, and they have to presented at the next available meeting, said Jeremy Powers, Marion County Public Schools Board attorney.
However, when it comes to timelines, that is a completely different issue, and it has to come to the board, said Powers.