MAINTENANCE GUYS AND GALS MATTER
I am aware of contemporary budgeting issues and how these affect the students, families, and all taxpayers within districts and schools. My facilities and financial experiences include the development of all instructional, supplemental, and comprehensive school district budgets and the oversight of a wide-ranging cadre of buildings. As a superintendent, I worked closely with the Business Administrator and BOE Facilities and Finance Committee to ensure that there was a successful referendum effort and three consecutive zero percent budget increases. I personally served as site manager for a multi-million dollar renovation project. Under my leadership, the district was awarded an $800,000 ROD Grant. Additionally, by combining existing and new bonds, we actually saved the taxpayers money on an annual basis.
Effective building management begins with planning via an up-to-date long range Facilities Plan. However, it also begins with meaningful relationships with facilities personnel so they understand the vision and mission of the district and its stakeholders. Planners, even those working in vintage buildings, must accept that the future is now.
Professionally, I have been involved in facilities work in vintage buildings, in school renovations and improvement projects, and in new construction initiatives for school districts. Mold remediation is something with which I am quite familiar. In my prior superintendent and other administrative capacities, all types of stakeholders were involved in facilities decision-making, even those who might not have had any legal rights to do so but via their involvement in the community or political positions they maintained a “sense of ownership.” Regarding facilities work, stakeholders must be identified, invited to participate utilizing a variety of methods, and encouraged to provide insight, expertise, and, when compelled, dissent that can be addressed and discussed. Through this manner of planning, consensus can be developed. In all aspects of planning, implementation, and evaluation regarding facilities, transparency is required. Additionally, I am a firm believer in Dr. Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Many organizations, including hospitals, businesses, universities, and schools, have greatly benefitted from this type of maintenance regarding maintenance. Finally, as someone who lives in a home built in 1790, I am very familiar with “vintage buildings,” even on a personal level.
Developing a worthwhile Facilities Maintenance Plan requires:
* involving stakeholders in the planning process
* identifying needs (e.g., improving cleanliness and safety, correcting deficiencies, addressing deferred projects, increasing efficiency, decreasing utility bills)
* establishing priorities and targets
* collecting and using supporting data to inform decision-making
* sharing the plan to garner support from management and key stakeholders
* allocating funds to pay for planned activities
* training staff to implement planned activities
* implementing the plan
* being patient while awaiting cost savings or other results
* evaluating the plan systematically
* refining efforts based on evaluation findings
* reviewing and revising the plan periodically (e.g., every three years)
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