Increasing public education funding shortfalls and cuts are having a cumulative deteriorating effect on facilities readiness from support services…custodial, grounds, and overall general maintenance. The one up-side to our support services cuts, … if there can be one…., is that our District built into our outsourcing contracts, during the last economic downturn, the ability to make cuts in a way that preserves maximum value to the District and maintain essential service standards in curriculum support and public use areas. An important part of our success has been an alliance of active and retired Facilities and Custodial managers that have shared their “best practice” methodologies of setting flexible standards, soliciting incremental vendor quotes, overall service model implementation strategies, monitoring vendor performance, and managing the potential down sides that can compromise successful outsourcing and budget savings.
Utilizing and sharing other successful districts professional staff resources directly or indirectly by utilizing alliance consulting and staff support resources can provide a variety of perspectives and successful outcomes that most closely mirror those Districts wanting move towards outsourcing of support services. Although successful outsourcing has common steps to success, there are a variety of models….one size does not fit all. Direct contracting with other Districts helps both districts minimize their professional and consulting costs…..however, utilizing the variety of expertise through an alliance allows for a cost effective menu of professional and staff support services by a matching of experience and service models.
One of the most common misconceptions is that all you need is a copy of an RFP….and it is done. The RFP is just one of a half dozen steps a district needs to follow before and after the RFP process to ensure the finished outsourcing model fits within the culture of the community and District as well as realizing the needed savings over in-house services….often in the 25% range… Although the math is pretty simple, understanding the steps that need to happen…is the devil in the details that the alliance can help navigate.
At this point, I would be glad to facilitate contact with alliance members and staff I utilize to assist other Districts in investigating the potential savings of outsourcing of presently in-house services to meet ongoing budget cut requirements. Contact me at: thetford@fgsd.k12.or.us
TThetford, FMA, Facility Mgr. FGSD, ( Cur. 12 yrs K-12 Pub. Ed., 13 yrs Healthcare),