NOT WATCHING TRENDS

The School Board also failed to sink time and money into researching enrollment patterns.

In the mid-1990s, about seven years into the construction program, the district dismantled its advanced planning office. Phillips, former facilities chief, said he did it to save money. District staff say that was a mistake.

When Suzanne Marshall took over as facilities chief two years ago, she quickly made changes.

"I went in and said, 'Who's looking at demographics?' Nobody. 'Who's integrating with county and local government [planners]?' Nobody, " she said. "That's advanced planning and that's what we're trying to put in place now."

Planning might have guided staffers as they decided where to build new schools. Since 1988, the district built nine in areas that grew at a slower pace than the rest of the county. Planning also could have helped schools such as Lawton Chiles Middle, which had to wait several months before portable classrooms arrived to ease crowding.

And planning could have more quickly helped Felix Varela High, which opened in 2000 and already is almost 2,000 students over its building capacity. Now, long after construction crews have gone, the district is spending $3.3 million to build a 22-classroom addition at the new school.

"I'm not sure the district predicted that the area would grow as fast as it did, " said Peter de la Horra, executive director of school construction.

Stierheim set up a planning office last year.

SPEED AND EFFICIENCY

No other change is more crucial, parents and school officials say, than building faster. And for less money.

Some construction projects idled for years before contractors were hired. And once the work started, delays at job sites cost the county's schoolchildren more than 80,000 days in lost construction time.

"Our projects have taken too long, " said School Board Chairman Michael Krop. "It's unconscionable."

The district busted its budget on 39 of 44 new schools analyzed by the Herald, or roughly nine out of 10 since 1988. In addition to new schools, the district has built 14 smaller buildings, called primary learning centers, seven alternative schools and a number of school additions.

But the new construction has overwhelmingly failed to relieve crowding on Miami-Dade's campuses. Help for schools such as Kennedy Middle and Lawton Chiles Middle, meanwhile, could be months or years away.

Money is tight. State funding for construction is shrinking. Miami-Dade County Schools received $62 million in 1992-93; last year, just $27 million.

The school district may soon be unable to take out loans for construction, unless tax revenues increase. Even when the district has taken out loans, the lack of front-end planning has at times caused problems.

The district in 2001 borrowed $25 million to renovate and build an addition at Miami Springs Senior, but work is on hold as the district and community decide how to do it. Not a room has been built, but the district has paid $641,000 in interest on the loan.

Some district staffers are cautiously discussing the possibility of another bond referendum. But board member Bolaņos fears it won't float. "Some folks wish that the mistakes of the past either had not happened or that they could just sweep those mistakes under the rug, " he said. "But the fact is that the School Board has too many black eyes, and I don't think we've done enough to convince the general public that the house has been cleaned."