Kent County leaders using data to drive consolidation efforts

 

Consolidation of services is possible and profitable.  But it takes hard data to move from theory to practice.

By Ron Koehler, Kent Intermediate School District

Consolidate school districts.  Consolidate services.  Consolidate positions.  Consolidate … consolidate … consolidate.  No longer is this the drumbeat of outsiders.  Instead, it’s coming from business, from legislators, from the state superintendent of schools. 

With the exception of states with countywide school districts such as Virginia, Maryland and Florida, Michigan is as well situated as any in the nation for consolidation of services because of its strong system of education service agencies and their relationship with local school districts.

Yet in many ways, the vision of constitutional framers in developing Michigan’s ISDs has never been fully realized.  Why?  One might blame the individual nature of school districts or the competitive model set up through schools of choice and charters.  Instead, it may just be the culture of conversation in education that encourages the examination of issues but makes it difficult to move from theory to practice.

It was the sharp edge of data that pierced the culture of conversation in Kent ISD and its member districts.  After months of discussion on various topics, the superintendents’ association collaboration committee made a request:  Mine all of the data contained in state Financial Information Database and identify:

• The spending of each individual district by category, e.g., middle school administration, student support services, technology administration, etc.
• Spending per pupil in each category
• Total spending across the ISD in each category
• Comparison spending in each category by like-sized districts
• Comparison spending in each category by region, as Kent ISD has 20 public districts divided into four separate and distinct regions

Obviously, this data was – and had been – available to individual districts for some time.  But Kent ISD had never gone to the effort to compile and then slice and dice it in a way that allowed districts the opportunity to compare their expenditures for each administrative, academic and support service with those of other districts.

First, of course, we found that some districts categorized spending on particular administrative expenditures in ways that were different than their neighbors.  But we began to learn more about the cost per pupil for each service and through the process of inquiry began to peel back the layers of the onion to determine why one district was spending X amount and another district, Y.  This, particularly among districts of like size and demographics, led to rich conversations about the level of services provided, the manner in which they were provided, and the outcomes expected and achieved. Best practices were shared and new ideas for efficiencies were spawned.

Today, spurred on by the state’s fiscal crisis and armed with real data, school administrators in member districts are having real conversations with their boards about a wide range of shared services, some with their neighboring districts and some through Kent ISD.  These include:

• Common software platforms
• Online learning
• Regional summer school programming
• Expanded center program concepts
• Shared administrative positions
• Payroll, business and back-room administrative services
• Technology management and support
• Transportation
• Food Service
• Maintenance support
• Purchasing coordination

It’s not like this work hadn’t gone on before.  It had.  And there are many shared programs, positions and services among and between Kent ISD and individual districts.  But there were also many duplicated programs, positions and services as well.  For the most part, the duplication continued because it had always been done that way, or because of staff loyalty.  And, of course, most superintendents believed their neighbors were doing the same work in the same way, so any conversation about greater efficiency would really just be tinkering around the edges.

Instead the data, presented in black and white to decision makers, identified huge gaps that were examined to reveal new ways of doing things that were not apparent before.  Consolidation of services is possible and profitable.  But it takes hard data to move from theory to practice.

Ron Koehler is Assistant Superintendent is Organizational and Community Initiatives at Kent Intermediate School District. Contact him at RonKoehler@kentisd.org.