The fuzzy feeling in the aftermath of the Eastern Guilford fire have faded away:
Patience is wearing thin for some parents displeased with the temporary locations of Eastern Guilford High School students and faculty.
They don’t want to wait until August 2007 before students are reunited.
“We’re getting something sooner,” band booster Bev Souther said. “We want something by the end of January.”At least 100 parents and faculty are expected to meet Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church in McLeansville to discuss options for next semester. They have in mind the Lucent Technologies-Guilford Center on Millstream Road in McLeansville.
Besides the separation, parents are taking issue with poor lighting at the schools at night, long workdays for teachers and inadequate classroom settings.
“My main concern right now is the teachers,” Souther said. “They are going to get burned out.”
Meanwhile, The Locker Room’s Terry Stoops discusses the school system’s possible plan to quickly rebuild Eastern:
There is a lot of debate about the at-risk method, which employs a construction manager (CM) to oversee all aspects of the construction process, from design to hiring contractors. The CM is “at-risk” because he or she must absorb any costs that exceed the total price they guarantee for the project, called the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP).
At-Risk construction does not usually save a school district money, and, in fact, it can actually cost more to build a school this way than the traditional design-bid-build process. There are several reasons why this is the case, but the truth is that there is little incentive for a construction manager to be frugal, especially during the design phase when a CM can work with an architect to value engineer the building. Costs can also rise because the CM has the power to select the contractors, and he or she may not be inclined to select the contractors who offer the lowest bid.
