James D. Sohn formerly served as the Chief of Facilities of the Los Angeles Unified School District Facilities Division (LAUSD), having been appointed by the Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. LAUSD is the 2nd largest school district in the United States. The Facilities Services Division oversees all maintenance and operations, including the construction and modernization program. The bond program is the largest school construction program in the United States, with more than five voter approved bond measures totaling $20.6 billion coupled with billions in matching funds from the State of California.
Education
James Sohn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley; a Master of Business Administration from University of Phoenix, and a Master of Arts from King's College London. He is a LEED accredited professional, licensed general contractor in the state of California and a member of the London-based think tank, International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Tenure at Los Angeles Unified School District
James Sohn initially worked as a consultant at LAUSD prior to becoming a Senior Project Manager for Robert F. Kennedy Community Learning Center. This is considered the largest, most expensive school ever built in the United States, at a cost of over $578 million. The school is located on the site where Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in 1968. It can hold 4,200 students and includes a manicured public park, swimming pool and fine art murals.
He returned to LAUSD in July 2009 as a Deputy Chief of Facilities, eventually replacing the previous Chief of Facilities, Guy Mehula. Mehula was criticized for the use of expensive consultants.
On January 25, 2011, the Facilities Services Division under James Sohn released $531 million in additional funds due to savings from decreased construction costs as a result of the downward economy and from reserve funds that were previously unavailable. Some questions were raised as to the priorities of the projects funded but many long-identified but unfunded projects were ultimately approved via the board action on January 25, 2010. Union officials continue to protest as to why bond district employees were laid off when additional funding is currently available.
One of James Sohn's priorities was the use of renewable energy. On February 10, 2011, LAUSD officials gathered at Canoga Park High School to celebrate the activation of a 273-kilowatt (kW), 896-solar-panel system on the school's rooftops. Sohn's goal is to achieve 21 megawatts of power in the next three years installing solar panels in various schools. Projections show that this will save approximately $112 million in utility costs over 20 years.
At the helm of the school construction program at LAUSD, Sohn introduced numerous efforts at reforming the school construction program by consolidating numerous departments, laying off hundreds of consultants and district employees and slashing consultant rates by 20%. However, a limited review audit by LAUSD's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found issues with some of these reforms. This includes costs that exceed pre-approved amounts by 50% and additional contracts worth $31 million without school board approval. These contracts were amended to correct the issues the OIG identified. The OIG found that in some cases the 20% reduction in rates was later amended for a subset of consultants back to their original rates. The report also found that the consultant rate multipliers were changed from 1.8 to 1.98 during negotiations. The OIG report also showed a $40,000 initiation fee for one of the consultant contracts. Following this report, Superintendent Cortines canceled $3.7 million in contracts cited in the OIG report, including the contract that included the initiation fee but left open the possibility the consultants may return.
An audit by the Los Angeles City Controller, Wendy Greuel, showed that prior to 2006 there was a lack of controls and that a potential existed for conflict of interests to occur regarding consultant use at the LAUSD Facilities bond program, but noted that: "from 2006 to the present day the district has undergone a dramatic improvement and has done a good job ensuring the integrity of the selection process." The City Controller has been criticized for not releasing the names of the individuals cited in the audit.