In the aftermath of the $78 million St. Louis County School District 2142 disastrous project, more and more is being learned.

1) The courts confirmed that the voters were lied to about the financial condition of the school district.

2) There are no cost savings. In fact, it costs more to operate five schools than it previously cost to operate seven schools.

3) The new schools have smaller classrooms, inadequate storage space, and class sizes have increased.

4) Construction was faulty, resulting in leaking roofs, cracked walls, and unusable sports fields, along with water and sewer infrastructure freezing up and at times becoming a health hazard.

5) The construction management, in an effort to avoid massive cost overruns, made millions of dollars in changes while construction was going on to cheapen the material and construction quality. All this was done without the school district’s approval or without informing the district.

JCI made over $11 million on this project. There are rumors that bribes were paid to get the initial support and continued irrational defense of the project. Unfortunately as we look back, there was no justification for the project. However, it continued giving credence to such rumors.

Dennis Peterson

Gheen, Minn.