Facilities Department

The Baltimore County school system's facilities department has been violating state procurement laws by awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars of work without competitive bidding, according to an internal audit released last night.The department also has hired employees who do business with the school system, misrepresented projects to the school board and commissioned work without contracts -- violations of school district policy, the audit said.Conducted over the past four months, the audit shows a pattern of mismanagement, disregard of procurement laws and procedures and inefficiencies in the $40 million-a-year department.

In the wake of a scathing audit detailing widespread violations of bidding laws and procurement policies, three managers in the Baltimore County school facilities department are being ousted, superintendent Anthony G. Marchione said yesterday.And more changes are coming, said Marchione, who has already removed the department's executive director.The latest moves will target Robert Klein, maintenance supervisor; William J. Moran Jr., capital projects specialist; and James F. Patton, indoor air and water quality specialist.

By now, the verbal jabs between the Baltimore County Council and the Board of Education are old hat. During the past decade, the two bodies -- one elected, the other appointed by the governor -- have bickered mostly about money. But arguments also have erupted over retirement benefits for teachers and irregularities in contract bidding. Last week, it happened again. The council asked the board to conduct a less-secretive search for a superintendent of schools. Board members replied that they are not about to change the rules in the middle of the game.

Here's the offer: A management company says it can save the Harford County school system $900,000 in return for a $9.6 million contract to run a combined facilities and construction department.But maintenance and custodial workers, who turned out in force at a school board meeting last week, say the proposal by Chicago-based ServiceMaster Service Management Co. would cost jobs and might not improve anything.School board members are moving cautiously as they consider whether to turn building maintenance and construction over to a private contractor.

A flurry of repairs will begin next month at 45 elementary schools across Baltimore County -- the first phase of a $560 million, multiyear school renovation project, the most ambitious ever undertaken by the county. The renovations will reach throughout the schools -- from carpets to ceiling tiles, boilers to roofs. But school officials say the schedule of repairs should limit the impact on classroom teaching. "We're shooting to get [the first phase] done by the end of August next year," said Don Krempel, the school system's director of physical facilities, who brought in 3D/International, a construction management firm from Houston, to help manage the project.

Baltimore school officials yesterday produced a hot water heater that mysteriously disappeared after an accident that severely burned a first-grader in June, admitting they have known its whereabouts for at least two weeks without alerting the state investigators who sought it.State regulators examined the heater at a Baltimore City schools workshop yesterday after receiving a tip that it was there. They say the equipment vanished from Hazelwood Elementary-Middle School in August after being labeled as evidence in an investigation of the burning of 7-year-old Ashley Moore.

The Baltimore County Council's planned audit of the school facilities department is designed to keep pressure on school officials for reforms, county government leaders say."The purpose of the audit is more to get them to clean house," Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, said yesterday. "It will be in rebuttal to their internal audit."But some councilmen doubt that the audit will lead to a government takeover of school construction and maintenance."I really don't think it will happen," mainly because of opposition in the Ruppersberger administration, said Councilman Douglas B. Riley, a Towson Republican and the main booster of the takeover idea.

When Dr. Karen Swartz came to Baltimore seeking admission to the Johns Hopkins University's medical school 20 years ago, the first building she noticed was Hopkins' domed administration building, one of the oldest and most recognizable structures at the world-renowned hospital. So, when she learned there was a chance to own part of it - and support a worthy cause in the process - she didn't hesitate. The dome is "the heart of Hopkins," Swartz said. "It is our symbol. To have a piece of it, and give back to the community, is an opportunity I didn't want to pass up."

Less than halfway through the school year, the Baltimore City district is confronting a projected $10 million deficit expected to result in scaled-back spending for schools, headquarters, repairs and maintenance, even interscholastic sports.After months of rumors about what some dubbed the "mystery deficit," Superintendent Walter G. Amprey broke the silence yesterday at a City Council hearing and acknowledged that the district is in a budget crunch.The administration of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke attributed much of the projected deficit to a union-negotiated pay raise that came after adoption of the budget, adding $5.1 million in unanticipated expenses.

If school board members are getting heartburn from the grilling the Gary administration is giving them over the future of Fort Smallwood Elementary School, they should set aside part of next year's budget for antacids.County Executive John G. Gary is forming an internal technical committee to review every aspect of planning and construction. Given past construction problems, he says he has no faith in the school system's ability to bring a project in on time and within the budget.And if the school board votes Aug. 7 to renovate and enlarge the existing Fort Smallwood Elementary rather than build a new one, he'll probably go along with the decision, he said last week.