St. Johns County School District, Fla.

As St. Johns County, Fla., benefits from economic growth with an increasing population, two new high schools and one K-8 school were constructed during the 2007-2008 academic year, and a new wing was added to an existing elementary school to accommodate expansion. Working with a total budget of more than $3 million, Contrax Furnishings was contracted through RFP solicitation to supply furnishings for all projects, providing the St. Johns County School District with the solutions it needed to have all schools ready for opening day.

Parameters for each project were identical – as well as the challenges. Each high school accommodates 900 students; the K-8 has an 800-student capacity, while the elementary school can now handle 1,000 students.

The school district depended upon Contrax Furnishings’ turnkey solution approach to take care of each aspect of the project for all four facilities – from planning through installation. Said one school district official, “Contrax Furnishings did all the floor planning, layout, furniture selection and made recommendations to each school principal. We recognize that we don’t have the time, expertise or staffing to do this internally. We depend on Contrax Furnishings and its expertise. They know what’s needed.”

Working with a $2 million budget for the four schools, the district faced two challenges: making sure that all facilities were ready for the first day of class, and that they received the best value for the money they were spending.

In meeting the first challenge, coordinating the planning and ordering for one school would typically be demanding enough, but performing this amount of complex work for a total of four required experience combined with a commitment to detail.

A project kick-off meeting with Contrax Furnishings included the school principals, secretaries, maintenance coordinators and purchasing personnel. The project scope involved Contrax Furnishings serving as the school districts’ eyes and ears to keep the process for each facility moving forward and meeting deadlines. Contrax Furnishings also assisted the principals by making recommendations for outfitting specialized areas, such as science labs. One point person at Contrax Furnishings coordinated efforts, while a point person was selected for each school to ensure optimal communications.

Contrax Furnishings also helped plan and coordinate the reuse of existing student furniture to reduce the overall budget expenditure, and assisted the district in stewarding its resources as best as possible.

Installation was problem-free, with the Contrax Furnishings delivery/installation team working around construction crews. The final walk-through of all four schools resulted in a punch list of only 20 minor items – none of which were serious enough to prevent the school from being functional. These items were resolved in less than one month after the school had opened.

Said one school district official, “A lot of companies could do one school for a district, but four in one summer was a big challenge. Contrax Furnishings assured us they could handle it, so we didn’t have to split the project up among other suppliers. We’re very impressed with their service and the level of detail Contrax Furnishings goes through to make sure the job is done correctly. We’ve experienced nothing short of absolute satisfaction.”