More Numbers - Service Business

The 2007-2008 budget for Marietta City Schools is $21,754,776. Not a small number. Quite a sizeable business in fact.
But what kind of business is it? We don’t manufacture anything. Unless one wants to consider graduates products. So we are not a manufacturer. We don’t sell anything. Unless you count the many fundraising projects which are not the main focus or our mission. So we are not a retail business.
We don’t grow anything, so we are not agricultural. And we don’t mine, drill, dig or blast anything that could be considered natural resource development. Though the minds and bodies of the students are certainly resources. And they are being developed.
Not unlike many other arms of government, we are a service business. As such, our main expense is personnel. Salaries, wages and benefits. What it costs to provide the service of education.
When dollars become scarce one looks to reduce the cost of operations. Save money to protect the ongoing viability of the business. This can include such things as you may already have done in your homes. Turn down the heat in winter. Turn out the lights when not needed. Limit driving. Buy on sale. Buy in bulk.
Schools have some other overhead costs that might be adjusted. Sports programs. Busing. Extra-curricular activities of all sorts that are beyond the confines of a strict definition of education.
But wait. For some, sports are the only thing that keep them motivated to attend school and keep the grades up. That’s their focus, their drive. So one must be careful about trimming costs there.
Then the busing issue arises. How much must we provide? How little can we provide? Good questions. And they must be viewed with safety in mind.
Another area where savings are sought is maintenance. Postponing fixing roofs, sidewalks, parking lots, buildings in general. But this one often proves a false savings. The money not spent one year tends to multiply in coming years as the sins of maintenance deferral tend to be cumulative and inflate with time.
So, back to wages and benefits, that number in this year’s budget is $18,073,624. Or 83% of total expenditures. In other words, we could eliminate every other expense in the budget and save only 17 cents on the dollar. The price of being in a service business is the employees to provide the service. In our case, 83 cents of every dollar we spend is personnel related.
It behooves us then to deploy those employees as efficiently and effectively as possible. The number of students per class. The number of maintenance staff per building. Administrators, bus drivers, etc. All needed to provide continuing operations.
Union contracts cover teaching and support staff. Individual contracts cover administrators. Any changes made must follow the rules of the operating contracts. Much like private business but with the added complexity of multiple areas of certification and seniority. A seemingly simple response to curriculum changes can result in a ripple affecting many employees who may appear unrelated to the original change. It’s a complex though well defined system.
Marietta City Schools are blessed with highly qualified personnel in all areas. Many have been with the system for a number of years. Some will stay with the system longer than originally anticipated owing to changes in retirement benefits at the state level.
This thing called education is all about service. And the customers being served are the students, the taxpayers and society at large. It’s a tall order with ever changing needs and demands. Highly individualized, highly specialized and tightly regulated. Not for the faint of heart.