School board members are incredulous, even though Orlando-based Ajax Construction Co., the project's construction manager, had cautioned the board that delay in site selection might increase costs. Still, Ajax says, the $137.63 per sf cost is in line with current average costs of $138 per sf for comparable school projects. That doesn't make elected board members feel any better, knowing taxpayers are footing the bill for the additional costs.

The site is south of State Road 50 and just west of Hancock Road, 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando. The increased cost also puts the board in a dilemma: where does it find the additional $11 million to pay for the school, which must be ready for classes in August 2002. Ground-breaking is scheduled in five days, on Dec. 26.

"It's a typical Catch-22 situation," Scott Vordeburg, a division manager at Accord Industries, a diversified construction materials manufacturer in Winter Park, tells GlobeSt.com. "They obviously have to have that school built now so the only alternative for them is to use funds earmarked for other later repair, renovation or addition projects that may have to be postponed."