RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Public Schools (RPS) division has "literally zero" preventative maintenance mechanisms for its buildings, according to internal auditor Ziauddin Ahmed.
At a recent school board meeting, Ahmed described the district's facilities department as operating entirely re-actively, only responding once something breaks.
However, an RPS spokesperson disputed that characterization.
The auditor's findings came on the heels on a chaotic start to the new academic year, with two schools — Barack Obama Elementary and Bellevue Elementary — shutting down for several days due to mold concerns.
Some parents impacted by those closures questioned whether they were preventable. According to Ahmed, the answer is yes.
Watch: Obama Elementary parents divided over mold and rodent concerns
Through a public records request, CBS 6 obtained audio of a school board meeting in late August in which Ahmed suggested the mold situation at Obama, which delayed the start of school by nine days, could have been avoided with preventative maintenance. This was first reported by The Richmonder.
“If we have preventative maintenance, we would have known the situation at the school. We can actually prepare ourselves how to handle it. It wouldn't be a surprise," Ahmed said.
Ahmed said not knowing is "dangerous" and that RPS is playing "Russian roulette."
He said RPS does "zero" preventative maintenance activities and said when he asked management about the concept, he received a "blank look" in response.
He said a preventative maintenance plan would include a master list of all buildings' plumbing, electrical, and structural statuses.
School board member Anne Holton pointed out that RPS did commission a thorough facilities condition assessment in 2024, which identified needed repairs at all schools.
CBS 6 requested an interview with an RPS facilities official for this story.
Spokesperson Kylie Brown declined our request, but in a statement, she said Ahmed's comments referred specifically to "a systematic, formal, written preventive maintenance plan."
Brown said RPS "does conduct preventive maintenance across our facilities" by making maintenance decisions informed by the 2024 facilities condition assessment, including scheduled preventive measures such as changing HVAC filters in its work order system, and requiring vendors to provide warranties that include servicing and maintenance when purchasing new equipment.
Ahmed said a formal completed audit into the district's preventative maintenance operations is forthcoming.
Watch: Richmond parents react to mold closing Obama Elementary indefinitely
He also presented an audit that identified several problems with RPS' maintenance work order system, which he called "haphazard."
Here are some of his findings:
- The former facilities director bought and approved items and processed bills with limited oversight.
- The facilities department had no checks and balances on purchasing card usage, referring to it as a "free for all."
- RPS did not properly track work orders and may have paid for work that was never done or for duplicate services.
- RPS failed to prioritize work orders by severity and rather tackled them on a first come, first serve basis.
- An automated facilities management system procured four to five years ago was never used for invoicing.
Ahmed described his findings as "not a very good picture."
But by fixing the identified problems and implementing preventative maintenance, he said RPS could minimize costs and improve budgeting.
“Everyone says, 'I need more money,' but actually, it's an efficiency issue... This is my observation — competency issue," Ahmed said.
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