Searching for Savings with LEAN practices

You live in a country where the federal government hands down directives to schools but insufficient funds to carry them out.
You live in a state that does not fund its schools constitutionally. The Legislature been told four times by its Supreme Court to fix the problem. It refuses,
You live in a school district that is experiencing loss of jobs, declining population, reduced enrollment and increased expenses.
And, if you live in the Marietta City School District, you live where the projected shortfall for next year’s spending has been trimmed by over half a million dollars as of last week.
Stopping short of eliminating the entire $1.2 million shortfall, the board feels comfortable that it has bought time for the system to work through the changes and find yet more savings.
This district suffered closure of two buildings discharge of 45 employees to avoid financial disaster a few years ago. Difficult times.
Inadequate information lead to that unfortunate situation. We are now better able to asses our position. And to make choices. We will soon be getting even better information. From those best able to provide it.
The need to have a Curriculum Guide in place so that enrollment for classes next year can begin forced the board to seize the moment and take action on several fronts to effect savings.
Some new class offerings were eliminated. Some old offerings were trimmed. Many changes.
Virtually none of the changes will impact elementary classrooms as they were adjusted during the last round.
The goal was to focus on basic and core subject areas and make certain our offerings serve our students and their futures. Other areas were fair game.
Administrative changes will be made. Changes to athletics will be made and our disciplinary process will be impacted with an eye to reducing costs.
When eighty cents of every dollar spent is employee related, it is impossible to effect savings without affecting people. The choices are not easy. The alternative is forbidding.
We feel we have bought time for a new process to work that will lead us to a brighter future. We are currently working on developing a vision for the school system. We will be involving the community in various ways during the development and final adoption of a vision. Our mission is to be world class within our constraints. We are breaking the system down into its primary functions, assessing where we think they are now and defining what World Class would look like. We then will set milestones to get from where we are to where we need to be.
The business practices and information systems for doing school business are primitive. We still run notes through the hall and do requisition forms with multiple sign offs to purchase approved supplies. Our leaders are bogged down in busy work that in many cases is unnecessary. We intend to bring a common industry related concept into the school system to help improve the systems.
Well known in the business world, LEAN management keeps companies competitive and alive. It is a discipline of continuous improvement and standardization that helps cut waste and find best methods. And yes, education is a competitive environment. It competes for the taxpayer’s dollars to keep its doors open. It competes for students with other options available to them. To ignore competition is to ignore reality.
Our employees are in the best position to find and implement efficiencies that can maximize our efforts. They are best able to point the way to the future. And they are best able to judge the academic implications of any changes being considered. We will count on them to be an integral part of the process as we move ahead toward operating most effectively with available dollars.