SCHOOL REPAIRS FINISHED ON TIME; 2ND YEAR OF BB WORK GETS AHEAD.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

After a troubled start, the massive Proposition BB school repair effort finished its second year on schedule, with slightly more projects completed than organizers planned, a report released Monday said.

By the end of March, the effort to spruce up campuses and air condition sometimes broiling classrooms finished 2,648 projects citywide, according to the Prop. BB oversight committee's second annual report. The goal had been 2,624.

``This project is not going at a hare's pace, but it isn't a tortoise's pace either,'' said committee Chairman Steven Soboroff.

About 22 percent of all the work expected to receive funding from the $2.4 billion bond measure is now done, compared to 9 percent at the end of the first year. About 15 percent of the bond money has been spent.

At the same time, the report warns of potential problems ahead.

Late payments to many contractors by the school district could inflate construction costs.

A proposal to strip the district of its power to build new schools could add layers of bureaucracy to using Prop. BB money for school construction, Soboroff said. And a legal challenge has held up the next two rounds of air conditioning installation.

Prop. BB coordinator Lynn Roberts said the consortium of companies hired to install the air conditioning still faces the same deadline for the next round of work. The cost of completion, however, may rise with the delay.

``Right now, their contract still says Sept. 1,'' she said. ``It's going to be a big challenge.''

Despite those problems, organizers said the report shows the Proposition BB effort in better shape now than during its wobbly beginning.

After voters approved the measure in April 1997, the first year of spending was marred by delays and quality problems on air-conditioning installation and political disputes between the school board and the bond's oversight committee.

Several changes helped produce better results in year two. Whereas many projects early on were handled by the district's facilities staff, now they are performed mostly by outside contractors, Soboroff said. The district has designated a full-time coordinator for Prop. BB, allowing for better tracking of projects.

In addition, Prop. BB officials have taken a tougher stance with some of the project management firms after complaints about their performance during the first year. Although none of the 10 management companies has been fired, four were given less work than others - and therefore less money - to force them to improve.

``You should see what happens then - boom, suddenly everything's perfect,'' Soboroff said. ``Nobody wants to be thrown off this project.''

To improve the process next year, the oversight committee wants five or six more people hired by the district to work solely on the bond effort. The idea received a warm response Tuesday from school board member David Tokofsky.

``It's very wise to have someone on point for each issue,'' he said. ``Otherwise, it's a lot of people, none of whom is responsible for anything.''