Situation
The Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) is an urban public school district located in north-central Texas with boundaries that encompass approximately 210 square miles. FWISD enjoys a diverse student population and strong community partnerships and as the sixth largest school district in Texas, educates over 86,000 students in grades Pre-K through 12 and employs approximately 9,775 staff. The District has 143 school programs that include 83 elementary schools, 26 middle schools, 19 high schools, and 15 alternative schools. Other facilities include a training center, service centers, warehouses, maintenance facility, child nutrition services (warehouse and office buildings), athletic complexes, transportation sites (parking lots and offices), safety and security building and a central administration building.
On November 7th, 2017, voters approved a $750 million bond program for capital improvement projects across the District. FWISD was not staffed appropriately to manage the comprehensive bond program and decided it was best to
hire an Owner’s Representation firm to manage the bond program. PROCEDEO was selected as the firm to manage the bond in December 2017.
Task
PROCEDEO was tasked with overseeing the entire bond program inclusive of procurement, design, construction, close-out and warranty for all planned projects. Fort Worth Independent School District identified 33 projects including 15 athletics, 15 comprehensive high school additions & renovations, one new elementary school, one elementary school renovation and one new baseball/softball complex.
Action
Our team started by staffing the program with the necessary staff to get the program off the ground. We began by creating program specific process and procedures manuals working alongside the district to establish best practices.
We began the procurement process for the architects, engineers and other professional services to get each project kicked-off. Our teams then focused their attention on the design related to the smaller athletics projects so that we could get those projects into construction as soon as possible. Once the small athletic projects were in construction our team, switched gears by focusing the design efforts into the 15 high school addition & renovations. As a team, we decided to use the Construction Manager at Risk procurement for the large high school addition & renovation projects which allowed for our construction firms to be hired early in the design process to assist the design teams with estimates, logistics and project phase planning.
Result
The original schedule for the 2017 Bond Program was scheduled for six years. Through PROCEDEO’s innovative approach to construction delivery methods and in collaboration with FWISD Capital Improvement Program staff, we have reduced the overall program duration to just four and a half years. Additionally, our program has seen more than 40 percent participation from MWBE/HUB certified firms. We have dedicated the staff necessary to achieve these goals and are happy to continue to serve Fort Worth ISD.