LCPS accepts Conlee, Desert Bloom awards while funding disputes continue
LCPS accepted state design awards for Conlee and Desert Bloom elementary schools while continuing negotiations over project costs and funding assumptions.
District officials say they are closer to agreement with the state but still differ over contingency costs and other project assumptions
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces Public Schools has accepted state design awards for projects at Conlee and Desert Bloom elementary schools while making clear that disputes over the underlying project costs remain unresolved.
The Board of Education voted 5-0 on Aug. 18 to accept both Public School Capital Outlay Council awards after district officials said declining the funding could force LCPS to reapply next year and delay the projects.
But acceptance does not mean LCPS agrees with the state’s calculations.
Chief of Operations Steve Rodriguez told board members the district is still negotiating with the Public School Facilities Authority over differences in project scope, construction costs and contingency assumptions.
“We’re still in negotiations with them,” Rodriguez said.
The discussion marked a shift from the larger funding gap LCPS had identified before the meeting.
As Organ Mountain News previously reported, the district’s independent estimate for the Conlee project put the total cost at about $8.3 million, roughly $2.6 million above the state’s earlier calculation.
Rodriguez said Aug. 18 that LCPS and state officials have since moved considerably closer on construction-cost assumptions.
He said part of the earlier disagreement stemmed from the per-square-foot figures being used by PSFA, which LCPS argued did not reflect current construction costs. District staff supplied recent quotes from other school projects to support its estimates.
Rodriguez said the sides are now using figures that are much more closely aligned.
Damien Willis
The remaining disagreement is largely tied to contingency funding.
LCPS had calculated contingency at about 26%, while Rodriguez said PSFA is moving toward a 20% standard. That leaves the district and state about six percentage points apart on that portion of the projects.
Rodriguez estimated the remaining difference at roughly $400,000 to $500,000.
Superintendent Ignacio Ruiz told board members the district wanted to make clear that accepting the awards would not end those discussions.
“We’re accepting the award,” Ruiz said, “but we are still requesting to continue the conversation around the discrepancies that we have in these two projects.”
The Conlee project includes major roof and HVAC work. LCPS has also sought changes to the state-recognized project scope, including additional square footage and replacement of lighting, ceilings and wall finishes.
The Desert Bloom — formerly César E. Chávez Elementary — award provides $89,500 in state design funding for roof-system replacement. LCPS has separately disputed the state’s assumptions for that project, including project square footage and whether awnings and overhangs should be included as part of work addressing water intrusion around windows and doors.
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Support Organ Mountain NewsDistrict calculations put the Desert Bloom project at about $3.29 million, compared with a state calculation of about $2.09 million before contingency and gross receipts tax are included.
Rodriguez said the district has provided updated construction quotes requested by state officials and expects the proposed technical changes to go before PSCOC for review.
He also said PSFA officials are expected to meet with LCPS in person as the district works through the remaining differences.
Board members questioned whether accepting the awards while disputing the amounts could leave LCPS returning repeatedly for additional funding.
Rodriguez said that is increasingly how the state process is structured.
Projects now move through separate planning, design and construction phases, he said, with districts able to seek additional out-of-cycle funding as later phases become ready.
LCPS currently has enough funding to begin design, Rodriguez said, while negotiations continue over the remaining differences.
“If we were not to sign these, then we would basically resort back to having to reapply next year for the systems project,” he said.
The district has encountered similar funding disputes before, Rodriguez said, including on the Hermosa project.
For now, the Conlee and Desert Bloom projects can keep moving.
Whether the state and district ultimately agree on what the work should cost remains unsettled.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
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