More than $8 million in construction cost increases tied to the El Paso Independent School District’s 2016 bond program did not go before the board for approval as required, according to a new internal audit report.
As a result, auditors warn final costs are likely to exceed the figures the school board of trustees presented to the public when pursuing support of the measure from voters three years earlier.
The report, published by the EPISD internal audit earlier this month found that the district’s contract with Jacobs Project Management Co., the El Paso company hired to manage the nearly $669 million bond program, does not specify who can approve significant changes in the project’s scope and budget.
“Our audit found instances where Jacobs did not comply with the contract in the area of staff qualification reviews. In addition, we noted District management did not obtain sufficient approvals in the area of change order management and used Jacob’s client survey process instead of creating their own performance review process to evaluate Jacob’s performance,” the audit report states.
As a result, nine project change request forms ranging from $35,000 to $1.98 million — which amounted to a combined $8.17 million — were approved by a single person, according to the audit report. In most instances, that person was Carlos Gallinar, the executive director of planning and innovation of schools construction.
The audit report recommended several measures to remedy the problems, including: adopting a clearly outlined process to gain approval of changes in fees and scope of the project; instituting a formal vendor review process; the development of a notification process for changes in personnel and the use of subcontractors, and many other recommendations.