In the wake of a school construction funding scandal the Leon County School district has revamped the way it presents such projects to the public. The new version of the proposals rolled out Tuesday before the school district board.
The Leon County School board’s list of school construction and renovation projects is in the millions of dollars. The district’s Assistant Superintendent Barbara Wills says in an effort to be more transparent about how it chooses contractors to do the work, the district has made its criteria available to the public, along with a report on how much companies have been awarded In the past to do district jobs.
“What we are trying to do and what this is a reflection of is our intent to be more transparent," Wills said. "So that the public sees all our documentation and back-up materials, so the school board sees it and they have a more comfortable level of what they’re looking at and they’re better informed before they make a vote.”
The FBI is investigating the way the district has awarded some construction projects to local companies. Leon County Superintendent Jackie Pons is accused of steering contracts to his political donors, although four independent reports have so far cleared him of wrongdoing.
