Booming District’s Construction Program Earns Good Grades
The districts 10-year, $3.5-billion bond program is backed by hotel and property taxes. Since its approval by voters in 1998, development on the Strip and skyrocketing land values have helped boost funding levels to $4 billion. Although the program initially called for 88 new schools and numerous upgrades, it has delivered 90 schools and $361-million in improvements to date.
The district has compressed its planning and construction process from five years to 33 months. Change orders are running at 3.5%, half of which are for offsite improvements and utilities. It also has deferred construc-tion monies for 23 fu-ture schools. "We want to avoid any lapses in planning, design and construction between bond programs," says Fred C. Smith, the district's construction manager.