LAUSD BRINGS IN THE ARMY; CORPS OF ENGINEERS TO MANAGE BUILDING.

Byline: Greg Gittrich Staff Writer

Disturbed by possible corruption and political favoritism in Los Angeles Unified's billion-dollar building program, Chief Operating Officer Howard Miller recruited the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday to manage the massive school construction and renovation program.

A senior administrator told the Daily News that the unusual move was essential to rid the district of an ``enormous degree'' of corrupt practices and ``suspicious cash flows'' associated with building new schools and buying large parcels of land. LAUSD must build 150 new schools and renovate 50 existing ones to ease overcrowding.

The administrator, who asked not to be named, said the district's new leadership team has been stunned by the level of incompetence within the LAUSD facilities division and sickened by the degree of political infighting tied to many of the proposed construction and land deals.

``Putting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the loop addresses all of those concerns,'' the official said.

According to the agreement between the nation's second-largest school district and the federal agency, the corps will provide project management services and personnel to the district as needed for the next five years.

The scope of work will include supervising construction, selecting contractors, reviewing designs and plans for new campuses and assisting in the search for new school sites. The corps' engineers and construction experts will report to the district's senior administrators and ensure state laws are followed.

``I don't think the district will ever have the competence or capability to build hundreds of millions, billions of dollars in new schools,'' said Miller, who negotiated the agreement for the district. ``We will always need to rely on outside agencies.''

No additional layer of federal oversight will be added to the construction program, and the district's pledge to run all new school sites past the state Department of Toxic Substances Control for approval will be adhered to, Miller said.

The agreement does not include finding a solution for the environmentally troubled Belmont Learning Center or school renovations funded by the local Proposition BB bond. Rather, the corps will manage Miller's plan to build 150 primary centers and renovate an additional 50 middle schools and high schools using state Proposition 1A bond money and local Proposition BB money.

The army engineers also will supervise the district's stumbling efforts to wire its classrooms for the Internet using available federal E-Rate program money.

Miller proposed the district's enormous school construction plan two weeks ago, after determining promises by outgoing Superintendent Ruben Zacarias and his administrators to build more than 100 high schools from scratch within the next five years would be impossible.

``Like everything else, we are no longer in the business of simply making promises. We are in the business of performance,'' said Miller, whose hiring in October triggered a flurry of management decisions that led to Zacarias' forced retirement.

``This is our way of saying to the community that these schools must and will be built,'' Miller said during a press conference on Monday.

The budget for the project management agreement with the corps has not been finalized and must be approved by the school board. Miller said he expects the spending plan to be ready for board review by next week.

While unusual, the work arrangement between the district and the corps is not unprecedented, according U.S. Army Col. John Carroll, who signed the agreement on behalf of the federal agency.

The corps has a long history of building schools on military basis worldwide and has overseen public school construction and renovations in Washington, D.C., for several years, Carroll said.

Further, the federal agency repaired public schools on an accelerated basis in South Florida after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Georges last year.

``So we have experience both in school facility construction and in preparing schools for occupation, and doing it quickly,'' said Carroll, a Los Angeles district engineer.

Carroll is one of 750 engineers working for the corps in Southern California, of which only seven are uniformed personnel. The remaining employees are civilians. Along with those stationed nearby, the corps can marshal any of its other 39,000 employees to assist the school district, U.S. Army officials said.

Unlike a private contractor, the corps does not work for a profit and will only bill the district for its costs, presumably saving money.

``The Army Corps of Engineers brings a level of integrity that is unquestionable to the school district,'' said board member Caprice Young. ``They have a tremendous track record of success.''

Despite those words of encouragement, some district administrators and board members were suspicious of the move.

``It is a bold initiative, but the real motive behind the move will only become clear in the coming weeks,'' said board member David Tokofsky. ``In terms of overseeing new school construction and the federal E-Rate program, it seems like a responsible decision and a promising endeavor.''

State Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, blasted the idea of bringing in the Corps of Engineers, calling the organization autocratic.

``Their record on the environment is terrible. Their accountability is to no one,'' Hayden said. ``It's a sad day to me when a local school district has to turn to the U.S. Army to build classrooms.''

A senior district official, who asked not to be named, predicted the inclusion of the corps is part of the district's ongoing attempts to secure state funding to complete Belmont, atop a downtown oil field seeping potentially deadly and explosive gases.

If the corps were to sign off on a safety system for the school and oversee new construction at the site, state legislators would be more likely to give the district money for the scandalous project, the official said.

The vast majority of the $170 million sunk into Belmont, the nation's costliest high school, has come from the district's general fund, the same money used to fund educational programs and hire teachers.

Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, who chairs the state committee that disburses bond money for school construction, said he would have to study the district's agreement with the corps. But he warned that it could not serve as a long-term solution to the district's construction problems.

``The L.A. Unified is going to have to clean up their own house and not rely on people from the outside,'' Wildman said.

Staff Writer David R. Baker contributed to this report.