Gangwon schools wasted W46.7b on design changes driven by new principals

People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-seok of the Gangwon Provincial Assembly's education committee said nearly half of all school construction projects in the province over the past five years involved design changes, costing taxpayers tens of billions of won in additional spending — much of it driven by incoming principals imposing personal preferences on already-approved plans.

Data Lee released Wednesday showed that 576 of 1,283 school construction projects worth 200 million won ($149,000) or more carried out in Gangwon Province over the past five years — 44.9 percent — underwent design revisions. The additional budget spent as a result reached 46.7 billion won.

Lee said roughly 20 percent of all design changes were triggered by a change in school principal mid-construction, with the incoming principal seeking to incorporate personal preferences into the existing plans.

In audit materials titled "Is this a school construction project or the principal's private home?", Lee said the pattern was recurring. "When a principal is replaced mid-construction due to a personnel transfer, the new principal habitually demands design changes to an otherwise sound plan just to put their own stamp on it," Lee said. "A school construction project is not the principal's private residence — why is taxpayers' hard-earned money being wasted on design changes made to suit someone's personal taste, as if it were a private home or official residence?"

The Gangwon Provincial Office of Education's administrative director acknowledged the problem in response. "There were shortcomings in the initial design stage, but I recognize that many cases of design changes have occurred after a new principal's opinions were incorporated," the director said.

Lee called on the education office to act immediately. "It is entirely appropriate to gather input from on-site staff and school officials during the initial design phase, but the practice of overturning a design mid-construction due to a principal's personal views must be eradicated," Lee said. "The Gangwon Provincial Office of Education must strictly limit unprincipled, principal-driven design changes and immediately put in place a rigorous pre-verification system and a clear framework for establishing accountability."