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ERIC EJ919349: Operation Excellence: A Community-School Initiative PDF

2009·0.1 MB·English
by  ERIC
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full-service schools Operation Excellence: A Community-School Initiative By Brett Pawlowski model that fully leveraged the time and talents of busi- ness partners and had a dramatic influence on school, and ultimately student, outcomes. The Origin of Operation Excellence When Jerry Weast joined Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) as superintendent in 1999, he brought with him a firm belief in the value of building strong rela- tionships with the business community. Having seen the effect of such relationships in previous districts, he imme- diately began reaching out to local business leaders. Weast was one of the local leaders behind the forma- tion of MCBRE in 2000. The organization was founded, and continues to operate, as a bridge for the creation of strategic business–education partnerships, focusing on connecting classroom learning to the workplace and on improving the quality of school operations. MCBRE emphasizes communication and collaboration between the district and the business community. Weast sits on the board, and district officials are involved in designing and planning major initiatives. Within two years of the organization’s founding, Michael Subin, president of the Montgomery County Council, asked the executive director of MCBRE to coordinate a study of targeted business operations of the district. According to the Operation Excellence summary report, the goal of the project was “to use business acumen to identify ways of making some of the MCPS business processes more efficient and effec- tive with the idea of re-allocating the savings to the T he vast majority of business and education instructional programs of MCPS, which directly benefit partnerships focus on improving student out- the children of the county.” comes through direct or indirect engagement at Although district leaders in some areas would be the classroom or individual student level. wary of such an initiative, MCPS leaders embraced the However, there are other opportunities for engaging the opportunity due in part to three factors: business community, and for those willing to think out- • The superintendent placed a high priority on commu- side the classroom, the rewards can be quite remarkable. nity engagement, particularly on bringing the business One example comes from the Montgomery County community into school operations as true partners. Business Roundtable for Education (MCBRE), a non- • The project was proposed to increase resources flowing profit operation in Montgomery County, Maryland into instruction, not simply to reduce budgets overall. (north of Washington, D.C.). One of MCBRE’s first • Although MCBRE was a new organization, school community and school initiatives, Operation Excel- and community leaders had worked on a similar ini- lence, is an example of a nontraditional partnership tiative in 1993, the Corporate Partnership for 18 JULY/AUGUST 2009 | SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS www.asbointl.org Managerial Excellence. The majority of the partner- Operation Excellence ship’s recommendations had been implemented, and Where:Montgomery County, Maryland. all parties viewed it as a success. Partners:Montgomery County Business Roundtable Project Design and Implementation for Education (MCBRE); Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS); multiple individuals representing MCBRE selected two people to structure and lead the various businesses. initiative. The first was a representative of the business community who sat on MCBRE’s board: Jane Rudolph, Challenge:Find efficiencies in district operations so that freed-up funds can enhance instructional efforts. vice president of strategic analysis and development for Lockheed Martin. The second was Larry Bowers, chief Solution:Working with representatives of MCPS and operating officer for MCPS. the local business community, MCBRE targeted four operational areas and assembled a team to study Working together over the course of several weeks, each and provide suggestions for improvement. those project leaders identified four operational areas to review, based in part on Bowers’s analysis of where Partner roles:Two community leaders, Jane Rudolph of Lockheed Martin and Larry Bowers of improvements could be made and efficiencies found: MCPS, led the project, identifying areas of study and • Facilities management working with MCBRE staff to recruit and manage • Financial management partners for each team. Team members worked • Technology management together for three months to analyze existing opera- • Baldrige certification tions and make recommendations. According to Larry Bowers: “This was a partnership Outcomes:The district realized several direct and that allowed businesspeople to share their expertise on indirect outcomes. It was able to rethink strategic the operations side of the shop. It can be difficult to approaches to building maintenance and cleaning involve people on the education side because for some and lobbied for new equipment, all of which signifi- it’s not their background, but when it comes to business cantly reduced hiring needs in those areas. Further, operations, they’re extremely familiar and have a great acquisition of software in call center and financial deal to offer.” operations improved capabilities in those areas. Once they had identified the target areas, Rudolph and Indirectly, several of the business partners continued Bowers, with the help of MCBRE staff, put together a set their support for the district after the project ended, of strategic questions for each area, a step that helped and many gained knowledge they could apply to guide their selection of business partners. Altog ether, their own work. Through this and other community Operation Excellence recruited 25 business leaders and 13 engagement efforts, the district continues to build support throughout the county. district leaders to fulfill the goals of the project. MCBRE recruited people based on their individual expertise, regardless of whether their companies focused Direct Outcomes of Operation Excellence primarily in the target area in question. As Jane Rudolph notes: “Lockheed Martin supported the team with peo- After MCPS and the county council reviewed the part- ple out of our financial community to help look at their ners’ recommendations, they decided to implement sev- financial systems. That’s not normally what you would eral, including allocating funds from the council for think about Lockheed Martin doing, but as we saw needed software and equipment. Larry Bowers high- where their needs were, we looked across our organiza- lighted some examples: tion to see how we could contribute to the effort. Clearly, • The partners found that the district’s financial man- we work with large-scale financial systems here, and we agement software, first purchased in 1983, was inca- wanted to bring that experience and expertise to look at pable of meeting current needs. They identified a their systems to see what they might need to make them new system with the necessary features, and the busi- more efficient.” ness partners successfully lobbied the county council Once teams had been assembled in each focus area, for the funding. “Businesspeople are influential advo- they were given three months to analyze current opera- cates,” said Bowers. “Elected officials look to busi- tions, review options, and make recommendations. ness leaders for input.” Each team established its own structure, work flow, and • Business partners also lobbied for the purchase of meeting schedule. A kickoff was held at the County equipment that allowed the district to forgo hiring Office Building on June 18, 2003, and the business additional building services staff. leaders submitted the results to MCBRE on or about • The partners established a different strategic September 25, 2003. The final recommendations docu- approach to cleaning, going from a model where one ment was made public in October 2003 in a presenta- person handled all duties within an area to a model tion to the Montgomery County Council. where a team moved through a facility together. www.asbointl.org SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS | JULY/AUGUST 2009 19 • Maintenance staff are deployed differently as a result MCPS continues to garner support and strengthen its of the team’s recommendations. They have signifi- reputation within the community. According to Larry cantly reduced staff time on the road by having staff Bowers, the district has seen a net increase of 6,000 stu- handle multiple work orders with each site visit, dents coming from private institutions over the last going to the extent of cross-training some staff mem- eight years, and its market share has increased from bers to increase their capabilities. Materials delivery 80% to 84% of school-age children in that time. models were also restructured. And the collaborative approach the parties brought to • Call center operations, particularly those in the dis- Operation Excellence has helped MCBRE and MCPS trict’s employees and retiree services office, were build a strong and trusting working relationship that has improved as well. United Healthcare was particularly allowed for additional successes over the years. According helpful in giving team members a tour of its call cen- to Heather Schwager, executive director of MCBRE: ter facility, walking them through United “Since 2003, MCBRE and MCPS have worked together Healthcare’s operations, helping the district choose to support the district’s efforts on project management, and purchase call center software, and helping set up diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and the impact a center within the district office. of generational differences in the education process. All of these initiatives were made possible thanks to the ground- As a result of these and work laid by Operation Excellence.” Although business–education partnerships that call other improvements, the on the professional expertise of the business community may not be common, the work of those involved in district has hired no addi- Operation Excellence shows that they can have a dra- tional maintenance staff matic effect on district operations and on stakeholder relations. As district leaders work to address the chal- since 2003. lenges presented by today’s economic climate, they should consider the benefits of such initiatives and As a result of these and other improvements, the dis- approach their business partners accordingly. trict has hired no additional maintenance staff since 2003, despite adding six million square feet of facility Brett Pawlowskiis president of DeHavilland Associates and space. (Additional staff have been hired in building editor and publisher of the K–12 Partnership Report, from which this article was reprinted. Contact him at services, but not at all in proportion to this growth.) [email protected] or visit the newsletter’s Website at www.kprnewsletter.com Indirect Outcomes In addition to the cost savings and improvements result- ASBO Past President ing from this campaign, the district has realized several Jerome Brendel Honored indirect outcomes. First, many of the business partners involved in Jerome Brendel, RSBA, past Operation Excellence have continued to support the dis- president of ASBO, was hon- trict and to advocate on its behalf. That support has ored recently with Illinois ASBO’s Ronald E. Everett been helpful in ongoing improvement efforts and, more Distinguished Service broadly, in advocating for the district with the county Award. The award recog- council and others. nizes individuals for their Although the school district was the intended benefi- “diligence, superior perform- ciary of this project, many of the participating business- ance, and achievements in people reported learning a great deal through the service to the school business public.” process as well, particularly in areas such as the imple- Beginning his career in education as a science mentation of Six Sigma programs (used by MCPS as teacher, Jerry moved through the ranks of school part of its Baldrige efforts). administration and into district administration, Also, according to Jane Rudolph: “One thing we where he has served as director of business sup- learned through this process is that, in a number of areas, port services, assistant superintendent for business, and superintendent. He currently is superintendent MCPS is doing a fabulous job—there were really no effi- of Woodridge School District 68 in Illinois. ciencies to be gained. It’s good to have that kind of infor- His commitment to school business manage- mation about a public institution—it instills confidence ment is evident in the wide range of positions he on the part of businesses and others in the community.” has held with the Illinois Association of School Due in part to the district’s openness to this effort, Business Officials and ASBO International. and the respect it earned from its business partners, 20 JULY/AUGUST 2009 | SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS www.asbointl.org

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