Will the plan to build Arlington’s priciest school building ever be delayed or scuttled, just as the construction contract is set to be inked?
That will be up to School Board members, who may take drastic measures on May 9 in an effort to pacify labor activists. And if they do, the eventual opening date of the new Arlington Career Center could be pushed back significantly.
What ordinarily would have been expected to be a pro-forma information item about the construction contract at the board’s April 25 meeting may well have left some audience-member mouths agape, as board members grappled with amending the contract at the last minute, or renegotiating a new one altogether, to include more labor-friendly provisions in it.
“We’re in an awkward spot,” acknowledged School Board member Mary Kadera.
No kidding:
• Labor activists, a potent and aggressive force in Democratic politics, have been pressing School Board members to include a “prevailing wage” requirement in the contract.
• But if School Board members accede to that demand at this stage of the game, it’s possible the entire project may need to be re-bid.
“We would probably be looking at a year [of delay],” said Jeffrey Chambers, the school system’s construction czar. “We would have to rewrite the documents.”
School officials also might have to downscale their expectations of the school’s amenities, should higher labor costs require trimming elsewhere.
“It’s not a typical school,” Chambers said. “A contractor really needs to be aware of that and have the background and knowledge.”
Up for a scheduled vote on May 9 is the $132.5 million construction contract to Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., along with a contract of $4.8 million for construction-management services to Turner & Townsend Heery. If School Board members approve them, work would begin almost immediately, with the new building expected to be open in time for the start of the 2026-27 school year.
The new school will be built on part of the existing Career Center campus along South Walter Reed Drive, north of Columbia Pike.
Chambers said Whiting-Turner, which won the competition to build the school among a number of bidders, was a solid choice. The firm has a “very, very good” track record and “there were no red flags” during the vetting process, he said.
Trying to renegotiate over the coming two weeks could cause the agreement with Whiting-Turner to collapse; trying to change the contract terms after it has been signed could result in litigation.
Yet it’s just another twist in a project that has been planned for nearly a generation but seems to never quite get to the finish line. Which is why one could almost see the pain on the grim faces of some board members during the April 25 discussion.
“This is a very large, very complex project that has been many years in the making,” board member Bethany Sutton said.
Trying to find a middle ground was Kadera, who wanted to know if provisions could be included in the contract that would provide protections for workers while not scuttling the entire effort.
The Arlington school system has never had a prevailing-wage policy for its construction projects, but newly energized Virginia labor advocates have been pressing for one. Earlier in the April 25 meeting, acting School Board Chairman David Priddy said the board was directing Superintendent Francisco Durán to study the matter and come back by October with a proposal that would include “a comprehensive understanding of the fiscal implications.”
“This is an issue we take seriously,” Priddy said, but went no further than promising “a commitment to explore” the topic.
