New Park View School Bid Comes In Some $20M Over Budget

The bid for Putnam County Schools’ new Park View School project came in almost $20 million over projections.

Director of Schools Corby King said that the bond capacity for the new school was set at some $44 million. He said that the lone bid came in at $60,450,000, and did not include furnishings.

“It was much, much higher than what we anticipated or even than what we have in the budget at the moment,” King said. “So we’ve got some difficult decisions ahead of us. We’re going to have to work with the county commission over the next few weeks to see what we can do.”

King said that the bid came in with seven alternates, such as not including an athletic field or a middle school wing. He said that cutting all of the alternates would only cut about $13 million from the bid, which is still over budget. King said that contractors have told him they’re seeing up to 40 percent increases in project costs right now.

King said that because the bid is much higher than expected, they’ll have to have some difficult conversations about how to move forward.

“I suspect that at some point we’re going to have to have a special called meeting just to focus on the school project,” King said. “This bid is good for 30 days. We’re going to need some time to talk to the county commission, to see where they are and see what they might be able to help us with.”

King said there is much to be done in looking at the site plans, the site itself, and conversations with the county. He said that he is unsure of where the project will go now, but that they will certainly discuss it.