An Interesting Way To Fund School Maintenance Activities

A Standards-Based Approach to Preventive Maintenance and School Facility Management Information

Courtesy of the State of New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority

Programs to aid school facilities and access district level information do not have to be complicated. Policy makers should consider the facility maintenance worker when devising strategies to improve management and efficiency. Starting off with a few welldefined basic principals or standards is the best way to start and achieve success.

Initially, a facility management process should address several critical elements of facility and maintenance management: • Amaintenance management program that is a formal system which records maintenance activities on a work order basis and tracks the timing and costs, including labour and materials, of maintenance activities in sufficient detail to produce reports of planned and completed work; • An energy management plan that includes recording energy consumption for all utilities on a monthly basis for each building; • Acustodial program that includes a schedule of custodial activities for each building based on type of work and scope of effort; • Amaintenance training program that specifies training for custodial and maintenance staff and records training received by each person; and • Arenewal and replacement schedule that identifies the construction cost of major building systems, including electrical, mechanical, structural and other components; evaluates and establishes the life expectancy of those systems; compares life-expectancy to the age and condition of the systems; and uses the data to forecast a renewal and replacement year and cost for each system.

An incentive scenario should be developed to accomplish these standards. For instance, school districts that meet standard receive preferential treatment for state aid. If a school district does not meet the standards, then they fall out of line for state aid. School districts should submit quarterly and annual electronic reports to an office charged with responsibility for administering state aid to schools

Background Information on the New Mexico Public School System

• 89 public school districts • School districts are independent agencies • 1998 equity lawsuit found that the State of New Mexico had not been funding school districts on an equitable basis. This prompted the creation of the Public School

Facilities Authority.

Public School Facilities Authority (PSFA) PSFAis an independent agency consisting of three main areas:

1. Planning

• Adequacy standards • Facility master plans • Facility assessment database (FAD) • Data driven decision making instead of political or otherwise

New Mexico facility condition index (NMCI) is a state-wide process used to determine buildings in greatest need of upgrades or replacements. This process sees every school measured against each other. School districts do not receive capital funding for projects if they do not participate in the Facility Information Management System (FIMS). When a facility reaches the top of the list for an upgrade, it is completely repaired front to back – then it drops to the bottom of the list. Most situations are restorations of existing schools. If replacement costs are determined to be 65-75% of restoration costs – replacement would occur.

2. Maintenance Oversight

• Preventive maintenance plan required from all school districts • Established in 2003 • State-wide maintenance coordinator position • Maintenance advisory group (MAG) • New Mexico preventive maintenance guidelines published 2005 • Establishment of maintenance objectives and requirements • Focus on increasing recognition of facility maintenance activities • Centralized collection of facility data used to identify problem areas • State-wide implementation of CMMS starting in 2005 as a pilot project with 18 districts • State funding and assistance with implementation of CMMS to ensure standardization • State wide procurement agency available to school districts • Deficiency correction unit measure created • 2001- $200 million identified as necessary to correct school facility health and safety deficiencies. 3 year program to complete.

3. Construction

• 15 regional managers • Project development • Construction monitoring