SCHOOL BUSINESS AF FAIRS -...

Emerging Issues in School BusinessEffective Planning for the Future

Maximizing Energy SavingsSeeing Public Engagement Differently

Also: 2010 Certificate of Excellence Recipients

S CHOOL BUS INESS AF FAIRSsbaDecember 2010 | Volume 76, Number 10 Association of School Business Officials International®

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2 DECEMBER 2010 | SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS www.asbointl.org

DEPARTMENTS4 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

6 PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE

7 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

10 AD INDEX

34 FACILITIESOperation GreenMatt Blomenkamp

36 LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE ISSUESThe Law of Competitive Bidding: A PrimerCharles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D.

39 CORPORATE CORNER

40 SPOTLIGHT ON AMADOR V. GARZA, RSBO

EMERGING ISSUES8 Planning Schools for 2050?

First, Let’s Get Now Right By Franklin Hill, Ph.D.

12 Green Energy in New Construction:Maximize Energy Savings andMinimize Cost By Joseph Ventresca, MS Energy, LEED AP

16 Seeing Public Engagement DifferentlyBy Jason Willis

20 School Tax Elections: Testing Messagesand Targeting Voters By J. Bradford Senden, Ph.D., and Don E. Lifto, Ph.D.

25 Ensuring Ethical Behavior of SchoolDistrict LeadersBy Robert Ruder, Ed.D.

26 School Boundaries: Finding SolutionsWhile Gaining Community SupportBy William Lazarus, Ph.D.

ASBO SPECIAL30 2010 Certificate of Excellence

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table of contents | DECEMBER 2010

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president’s message

The Importance of“International”By Erin K. Green, MBA, RSBA

The fact that our students must under-stand the globalized society in whichthey will soon work means that we, asmasters of the resource universe, must

also understand it. Now is the time for ASBO to advance its international collaboration.

Recently, I spoke (electronically) to the pro-fessor who heads up the SBO program at theNational College for Leadership in Manchester,UK; the president of the Association of BusinessManagers in Victorian State Schools, Australia;an Australian university professor who is writ-ing about the evolution of education businessmanagement; a director of finance and adminis-tration programs in Cape Town South Africa;and a school business official in the UnitedStates. Is there something to be learned byopening up the borders? You bet! Here areexcerpts from some of their comments.

Linda Lee (Australia)Although our working environments may differ, we all want to provide every child withevery opportunity in life and the best experi-ence in their school environments. We wantour students to be global citizens, so we needmentors and leaders who understand the globalperspective. The expansion of any networkinternationally opens the way for the sharing of knowledge and new ideas.

Trevor Summerson (United Kingdom)I am convinced that the international elementwill take on a greater level of importance forASBO because much of what we do requiresinternational cooperation. Just think of sus-tainable development/environmental issues that 10 to 20 years ago hardly got a mention.Now they are center stage in political termsand, in England, an area where the SBM/SBOis dominant. But we all know that sustainabledevelopment requires cooperation at an inter-national level.

In many countries, school business manage-ment is a fledgling profession. ASBO has a real

opportunity to take the lead and drive the pro-fession forward.

David Ginsberg (South Africa)ASBO has the privilege of being the only organ-ization in the world that I am aware of that hasa global vision for school business managers.Consequently, we have a concomitant responsi-bility to show leadership.

We need an international body that traversesareas beyond collegiality for many reasons,including pursuit of international best practices,research and development, standards develop-ment, support, professional development indeveloping countries, collaboration on projectsthat enhance our roles, and advocacy.

By focusing on our profession . . . we willcontinue to be relevant and support teachingand learning at a higher level.

Mark Pepera (United States)While growing any organization has its chal-lenges, the further expansion of ASBO inconjunction with our international partners notonly makes good business sense, but allowsmembers access to the exponential growth ofthe global learning community.

If taking advantage of global learning oppor-tunities is proven to be advantageous for ourstudents and faculty, why not school businessofficials? Now is the time to embrace such anopportunity.

The real question is this: Who will do this ifnot ASBO?

Visit ASBO’s Website (www.asbointl.org) toread these comments in their entirety.

Now is the time

for ASBO

to advance its

international

collaboration.


Erin K. Green, MBA, RSBAPresident, ASBO InternationalDirector of Business Services,Greendale (Wisconsin) School District

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Connect the Community

publisher’s message

I cried not long ago.OK, maybe not

the usual start tothe publisher’s note,but I hope you’llfor give me.

You see, I put myyoungest, my baby,on the school busfor her first trip toKindergarten a fewweeks ago—withher new bag on herback, new shoes onher feet, and a smile from ear to ear. Holding onto her bigsister’s hand (now a second grader), she stepped onto theschool bus, made her way down to the middle, and wavedout the window to her mum and dad. We set her out on herown route, to find her own path and all that comes with that.

I cried, but I also breathed a deep sigh of relief. I had mether teacher at Kindergarten orientation, I know the princi-pal, and I got to know the school nurse really well when mysecond grader took an adventurous leap from the monkey barsand fractured her elbow. I know the office staff and the cafe-teria staff and I know they will take care of my girls.

Just as important: I know the bus driver—the first con-tact my children have each day with their school. He wel-comes them each morning, giving encouraging words tothose carrying “awesome” projects that don’t fit in back-packs. He makes sure each child is sitting down (and behav-ing) at every stop. I know he will take care of my children—ofall the children.

I also know that when my girls step onto that bus, theyare stepping onto what the U. S. federal government consid-ers the safest mode of transportation on the road. And I knowtheir bus driver has gone through the training, backgroundchecks, and professional development necessary to ensurethose kids get to and from school safely every day. He canhandle everything from nose bleeds to bullying to sobbingchildren who missed their stop. I hope every school bus underyour care and supervision has a bus driver like ours.

School transportation people are special. Bleeding Yellow—that’s the term our friends over at the National Associationof Pupil Transportation use to describe their passion aboutschool transportation.

Every day in the United States, approximately 450,000school busses transport 25 million children to and fromschool. I’d like to thank each and every one of the trans-portation directors and school bus drivers who carry ourprecious cargo.

— Siobhan McMahon, Managing Editor

Colophon: During production of this issue, Siobhan spentHalloween with her in-laws and celebrated the end of mini-soccer,Pat talked herself out of another dog, and Lauren moved to a newapartment and celebrated Halloween with friends and family.


School Business Af fairsDecember 2010 | Volume 76, Number 10

SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS (ISSN 0036-651X) is the professional journal of the Association of

School Business Officials International and is published monthlyby the association. Periodical postage paid at Herndon, Virginia,

and additional mailing of fic es.

Postmaster: Send address corrections to School Business Affairs,11401 North Shore Drive, Reston, VA 20190-4200; 703/478-0405.

2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORSPRESIDENT — Erin K. Green, MBA, RSBA

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT — Angela D. Peterman, RSBSVICE PRESIDENT — Charles E. Linderman, RSBA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR — John D. Musso, CAE, RSBA

DIRECTORSPaul M. Bobek, CPABrian L. Mee, RSBA

Shirley A. Broz, CPA, RSBARon McCulley, CPPB, RSBO

Randy C. Evans, RSBOTerrie S. Simmons, RSBA

PUBLICATIONS POLICYThe materials published in each issue represent the ideas, beliefs,

or opinions of those who write them and are not necessarily theviews or policies of the Association of School Business Officials

International. Material that appears in School Business Affairs maynot be reproduced in any manner without written permission.

2010 EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEEChair—Ellen R. Skoviera

Vice Chair—Gayle D. Isaac, CPAStephen B. Lawton, Ph.D.

Richard C. Hunter, Ed.D.Gail M. Zeman

Karen J. DeAngelis, Ph.D.William Flaherty

Brian Moore, RSBSBoard Liaison—Charles E. Linderman, RSBA

EDITORIAL STAFFDIRECTOR — Siobhán McMahon

EDITOR — Patricia GeorgePUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR — Lauren A. Konopka

DESIGN — Laura CarterCarter Publishing Studio

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EDITORIAL OFFICES11401 North Shore Drive, Reston, VA 20190-4200

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www.asbointl.org SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS | DECEMBER 2010 7

No doubt many of you have seen or heard about the documentaryWaiting for “Superman,” producedby Davis Guggenheim, who also

brought us An Inconvenient Truth.Pointing out the failings of the American

school system, Guggenheim follows five chil-dren who have high ambitions and goals, butwho are struggling to get the quality educationthey want and their parents or grandparentswant for them.

Throughout the film, Guggenheim refers to America’s schools as “failure factories.” He romances the audience by his portrayal of charter schools while vilifying the Americanschool system and its teachers.

Guggenheim blames the system for allowingpoor performing and mediocre teachers toremain in classrooms. He includes one or twosnippets of good teachers, but the overall im -pression is that most teachers are incompetentand don’t care. Guggenheim spends significanttime explaining the “dance of the lemons,” aprocess during which poor teachers are passedfrom school to school rather than terminated.

The film should make third world countriesproud of their education systems in comparison.

Waiting for “Superman” lays the responsi -bility for our failing schools at the feet of many,but offers few solutions beyond establishingcharter schools and getting rid of unions, tenure,contracts, and poor performing teachers.

The film does do one very important thing—or at least it should. Despite the fact that noneof the students in this film can be considered“challenging” or “difficult to reach,” and manyinaccuracies are presented as facts, Waiting for“Superman” should sound the call to actionthat many of us have talked about for years: to serve every child.

Educators have talked about the systemicchanges needed in our school system to effectreform while others have criticized the numberof dollars we spend per student, failing to takeinto account the varied needs of every child we serve. Some children cost more to educate,some cost less. Some excel with seemingly noeffort and others struggle with even the mostsimple of concepts. Some can’t walk or speakand others can’t seem to slow down. We mustserve every one of them.

So do we continue to criticize our currentsystem and wait for Superman to save the day?Or do we start the serious discussions necessaryto effectuate systemic and transformationalchange in our nation’s schools?

Do we continue to impose the archaic tra -ditions in education such as conforming to theAgrarian calendar and measuring seat time?Or do we begin some of the reform efforts and discussions intended to be launched withARRA funds, but diverted because of thenation’s economy?

We do need to ask ourselves why someschools do better than others. We do need toask ourselves why some teachers are betterinstructors than their colleagues—but withoutlaying the blame at the zip code door.

Educators can come up with a lot of prob-lems and issues surrounding our educationsystem, and we usually have a good list ofsolutions to those problems. But for whateverreason, few of the solutions seem to take hold.

If a movie can start the difficult discussionsabout reform and transformational change—asthis one seems to have done—maybe we shouldproduce a movie in which every adult is com-mitted to our children’s education, in whichpolitics are set aside, the finger pointing stops,and we deal with the real issues.

Do we really want to wait for Superman?

Why Wait for Superman?John D. Musso, CAE, RSBA

Do we really want

to wait for Superman?

executive director’s message

By Franklin Hill, Ph.D.

Any reduction in the

transfer of cognitive

information is akin to

having students wear

blinders or earplugs.

Planning Schools for 2050? First, Let’s Get Now Right

emerging issues


For 20 years, I have promoted constructing today’s schools with thefuture in mind, yet as many school districts begin planning for theyear 2050, I am starting to think this foresight/forethought mightactually be a distracting course of action. Some districts may try to

plan so far into the future that they neglect the present.But, there is an option to do both: plan for today and appropriately and

practically plan for tomorrow.An effective master planning process addresses educational trends,

curriculum issues, and facility concepts across a continuum of applicationsand time periods for implementation. This process allows for immediate no-cost/low-cost applications and higher-order opportunities based on cost-effectiveness and funding availability.

Figure 1 on page 9 illustrates the four levels of attention:1. The base of the pyramid focuses on doing the fundamentals well for

all students.2. Curriculum addresses teaming, resource, and neighborhood options.


3. Creativity makes the school a learning “tool” forproblem solving and higher-order thinking.

4. Globalism puts the luster on a flat world. Thisimportant strategy can occur at any time.In an education facility, the basics must maximize the

transfer of all forms of information from the instruc-tional medium (teacher or technology) to the learner.Any reduction in the transfer of cognitive informationis akin to having students wear blinders or earplugs.

Level 1: The FundamentalsWhen educational achievement is presented as a bellcurve, we realize that there are students at both extremesof high and low achievement with the vast majority ofthe population occurring somewhere in the middle.

As is often said, “A tide rises all boats.” In the caseof education, technology is that tide, helping improvelearning for all students. In environmental design,enhancements are the tide that increases the achievementpotential for all students.

When the environmental basics are designed well, thebell curve for learning moves to the right and all students,regardless of their educational base position, have anopportunity to improve across the continuum. Thesedesign elements can be no-cost ideas that allow a teacherto change the environment immediately, such as:• Room orientation• Technology placement• Natural light management• Directional speaker placement• Teacher desk placement/orientation to maximize

available student space.These ideas apply to all learning spaces.

Level 2: The CurriculumThe next level of a master planning process is a “curricu-lum” focus on coordination and integration of learningacross disciplines. Integrated learning has been a naturalprocess throughout history—it has only recently becomean institutionalized process in our schools. Humannature has always inherently integrated authentic infor-mation and used it appropriately, when it has beenregularly applied in an age-appropriate way.

Facility implications of curriculum integration includesmall learning communities, connectivity between vari-ous learning environments, and resource space forteaming of students, teachers, and instructional tech-nologies. Just as one size does not fit all with regard tocurriculum, one size does not fit all where open spaceand technology are concerned.

Level 3: Creativity“Creative” master planning reconstitutes the funda-mentals of age-appropriate authentic problem solvingwithin an academic environment. Age-appropriate

exposure to fundamental problem solving issues excitesthe human spirit.

Age-appropriate exposure tofundamental problem solvingissues excites the human spirit.

Facility considerations can include such configurationsas the following:• Making the school environment a “learning tool”

that is physically integrated into the curriculum• Incorporating data analysis computer peripherals

that integrate different disciplines, technology, andthe building—the learning atrium model

• Integrating science and tech prep lab orientation toincorporate problem solving.Age-appropriate problem solving and authentic learn-

ing must rely on more than technology. Years ago, ascience teacher professed proudly, “We will never haveto touch test tubes again and laboratory areas willbecome obsolete.” That concept was ridiculous then andremains ridiculous now. Yet many schools districts pas-sively accept this idea as a legitimate solution to abdicatethe challenges for successful problem-based education ofthe “whole” student into the 21st century.

Level 4: The Global “Glow”The glow is what learning is all about: not just lifelonglearning but learning for life. The glow promotes appro-priate, authentic learning for a changing world. Thefollowing examples are ways to expand the learning envi-ronment to enhance a global education curriculum:• Using projection video to create simulated multicul-

tural environments• Creating café dining areas with multicultural design

flexibility• Engaging creative indoor/outdoor design applications

that transition problem solving to 3-D learning.

Figure 1. Master Planning Pyramid

When planning for the future, evaluate the real issuesapplicable to your school district and educational situa-tion. Plan your school’s needs at several levels of costand complexity, from the “fundamentals” through theemerging global issues.

The glow is what learning isall about: not just lifelonglearning, but learning for life.

The planning pyramid may provide a helpful frame-work for prioritizing your immediate goals and thosefurther into the future.

Proper framing of a breadth of educational and facilityneeds, from the practical low-cost/no-cost options to the more complex and costly, will assure the community that you are using a practical and down-to-earth process. The fundamentals will resonate more clearly with themajority of the community and will build confidencebefore you begin discussing more complex options.

Franklin Hill, Ph.D., of Franklin Hill & Associates, Kirkland,Washington, is an international educational facility planner andfuturist for educational change and practical facility design.Email: [email protected]

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For school business officials,

green energy means

getting the lowest energy

bills for the lowest

construction cost.

Green Energy in New Construction:Maximize Energy Savings andMinimize CostBy Joseph Ventresca, MS Energy, LEED AP

emerging issues


People often use the term “green energy” to referto alternative energy technologies. But greenenergy doesn’t guarantee maximum energy savings at a minimum cost—a common

misconception.For school business officials, green energy means get-

ting the lowest energy bills for the lowest constructioncost, which translates into maximizing green energy savings while minimizing its cost.

To better understand strategies for optimizing greenenergy for your building, consider an automobile anal-ogy. When you are buying a car with fuel efficiency inmind, you don’t have to become an expert in alterna-tive automotive power technologies; you just look for

the car with the highest miles-per-gallon (mpg) rating at the lowest price. The mpg represents the energy-efficiency rating.

For school business officials who deal with facilities,the energy-efficiency rating for buildings (the mpg if youwill) is designated in British thermal units of energy persquare foot (Btu/ft2). Because Btu/ft2 ratings are typicallyunwieldy, it’s simpler to use the percentage of improve-ment over the base energy code, which is the AmericanSociety of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-ConditioningEngineers’ Standard 90.1.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) green building rating system awards energypoints, or “credits,” based on the percentage improve-


ment over the base energy code. While the number ofpossible energy points varies with the LEED version,achieving all points translates to roughly 42% to 48%more energy efficiency than the base energy code.

LEED certification alone does not guarantee optimalenergy efficiency. LEED has many accomplishments toits credit and has transformed the market towardgreener construction. But like any tool, it will not perform as intended if it is misapplied.

LEED certification alonedoes not guaranteeoptimal energy efficiency.

For example, a New York Times article states, “TheFederal Building in downtown . . . features an extensiveuse of natural light . . . has LEED certification . . . but. . . is hardly a model of energy efficiency” (Novarro2009). And an article in the March 2009 issue ofBuilding Design+Construction carries the headline“Study Shows 30% above ASHRAE Energy EfficiencyDifficult to Reach in Buildings, 50% Unreachable.”

However, today, 50% is not “unreachable.” Cost-effectively achieving 40% to 50% efficiency over theenergy code is possible today. I was the building owner’senergy consultant for a recently constructed 100,000-square-foot commercial office building in the Midwestdesigned to achieve all 10 possible LEED (version 2.2)energy points, for a 42% to 45% energy savings over the90.1-2004 energy code. This savings was before addingany solar electricity, and it was accomplished for thesame or a lower cost than originally estimated forachieving 5 to 7 LEED energy points.

Optimize Energy EfficiencyTo achieve maximum energy efficiency at the lowestcost, energy efficiency must be optimized. According toJohn Holdren, Ph.D., President Obama’s top scienceadviser, “When you look at the options . . . the cleanest,fastest, cheapest, safest, surest energy supply option con-tinues to be increasing the efficiency of energy enduse” (Kolbert 2009).

It is also well stated in the Charleston (South Carolina)sustainability plan: “If one views efficiency as an energyresource, then it costs three to ten times less than anyother energy resource, including renewable energy”(Charleston Green Committee 2009, pp. 43–44).

Returning to the automobile analogy, suppose your“car architect” designs an “energy-efficient” eight-passenger van. This vehicle is rated at 15 mpg and isconsidered energy efficient because it has a six-speedtransmission. You realize you need lower gasoline billsbecause you’ll have this vehicle for several years (like

your building). So, you consider a similar vehicle certi-fied by the (fictional) U.S. Green Car Products Councilthat is a V6 and is 20% more efficient, getting 18 mpg.

To obtain maximum green energy, you add solar collectors, increasing the mpg by 2.5% (the same asrequired by LEED v2.2 to earn a renewable energypoint) to bring it all the way up to 18.45 mpg.

By optimizing energy efficiency, you could get a 25-mpg rating in a less expensive car like a Civic andstill carry your family of four comfortably. Or for aboutthe same price, you could buy a slightly smaller, five-passenger van hybrid that boasts 34 mpg. For even less,you could purchase a 51-mpg Prius. (All examples arebased on 2010 Environmental Protection Agency “city”ratings for miles per gallon and Kelley Blue Book prices).The highest mpg efficiency for the lowest cost is yourgreen energy goal.

The only way to achieve energy efficiency in a car orin a building is to diligently optimize the energy effi-ciency of every aspect of the design, from start to finish.To accomplish this goal, you must follow a rigorous procedure proven to achieve results.

Perform Energy SimulationsAt the beginning of the conceptual design phase, developa base computer energy simulation of the building thatmeets the energy code according to LEED simulation cri-teria. Including this exercise at the outset makes energyefficiency a high priority from day one. This first simula-tion will not match the building’s final design perfectly,but it will have representative thermodynamic features,such as square footage and percentage of window glass.

This early simulation allows for the integration ofenergy-efficiency improvements at minimum cost. By thetime the project reaches the schematic design stage, it istoo late to optimize energy efficiency because too manyparameters have already been set, and changing them isexpensive. Unfortunately, energy simulations, even forLEED buildings, are typically not done until designdevelopment or even later. As a result, many energy-efficiency opportunities are missed.

For the base simulation and all subsequent ones, listeach area of energy use: lighting, cooling, heating, con-veyance energy, plug loads, and miscellaneous energy.Then, set an ambitious goal to reduce the overall energycost by 50% or more. Aggressively pursue efficiencyimprovements for each energy use to reduce it by 50%or more. If you don’t quite reach the goal, you’ll still dowell; if you start with a lower goal, you’ll fail.

After you have the base simulation, simulate or evaluate the cost and savings of every option that willreduce energy costs with an estimated payback of 15years or fewer. Don’t limit yourself to only those itemswith short paybacks; even with a 15-year payback,energy investments in improving the building’s energy


efficiency make good economic sense because of thelong life of the building.

The important financial metric is the “years until posi-tive cash flow.” While public-sector capital financing isdifferent from private-sector mortgages, let’s assume aregular private-sector mortgage for illustration. To calcu-late the years to positive cash flow, the first year’s savingis simply the cost of the measure divided by 15. The costof the measure adds a fixed annual amount to the mort-gage payment. The annual energy savings will increaseas energy costs continue to rise, so the annual savings onenergy bills will equal or exceed the additional mortgagecost in three years or fewer. This outcome is true regard-less of the technology specifics of the measure becausethis analysis is independent of those specifics.

Even with a worst-case scenario of 3 years to positivecash flow and a 15-year simple payback, the actualincrease in money paid on the mortgage from operatingfunds for the first 3 years is insignificant. The averagesimple payback for all the efficiency improvements willbe much shorter than 15 years because some improve-ments will have short payback times.

A real eye-opener is developing the numbers for theyears to positive cash flow for the specific projectbudget. It paves the way for aggressive energy efficiencyby showing how it is an investment that generates a flowof cash, not a regular cost of construction. If you can’tafford energy efficiency as part of the capital budget con-struction cost, then you surely can’t afford the increasedoperating cost of higher energy bills: that is even worse.And you definitely can’t afford to return later to addenergy efficiency to the building, as retrofitting will cost2 to 10 times more.

The conventional practice is to consider paybacks of3 to 7 years, so some architects and engineers may resistevaluating all energy investments with paybacks as longas 15 years. Shorter paybacks are the rule because mostcommercial buildings designed by architects are specula-tive buildings, which the developers will immediatelyresell. To make a profit, the developer must hold con-struction costs to the bare minimum. The energy bills areof no concern because they are passed on to the tenants.

For schools and public buildings, which are owneroccupied for 30 to 100 years, it makes good economicsense to evaluate all options with paybacks of up to 15years. This evaluation is especially important if you areconsidering solar or wind power because the simple pay-back of those technologies will be significantly longerthan 15 years. Designing a solar- and wind-ready build-ing costs little, gives the flexibility of adding thosetechnologies at any time in the future as their cost con-tinues to decline, and keeps the design emphasis onefficiency improvements to the building.

A common yet critical error in evaluating energy-efficiency options is making the first simulated energy

improvement an efficient HVAC (heating, ventilating,and air conditioning) system or a renewable energysource. These items will reduce utility bills, but they willnot make the building itself more efficient, and they useup the budget. This mistake also causes all subsequentefficiency improvements to show very long paybacks.

Select a package of thoseoptions with the bestpaybacks and simulate it asthe final efficient building.

This result is the effect of simulation interactionscaused by the assumed order of implementation.Therefore, the only correct way to perform the simula-tions is to hold the base energy code–compliant HVACsystem constant and exclude any renewable energyoptions until after all building energy-efficiency optionshave been simulated and evaluated. Then select a pack-age of those options with the best paybacks and simulateit as the final efficient building. Only then shouldimprovements to the HVAC “plants” and supplementalrenewable energy be added. This methodology will resultin the optimal cost-effective design solution.

Hire an Energy ConsultantAn effective strategy for maximizing energy efficiency isto hire an independent energy consultant as the owner’srepresentative for overseeing and achieving energy effi-ciency. This individual should have extensive experiencewith energy simulation and have previously achieved40%–50% energy efficiency, cost-effectively.

The energy consultant reports directly to the ownerand should be responsible for simulating, evaluating,and tracking progress to achieve the energy-efficiencygoal. The energy consultant regularly updates the owneron the energy-efficiency status throughout the term ofthe project. Regular updates are critical, since an aggressive goal embraced at the beginning is often inad-vertently neglected or watered down in the face of themultitude of issues and financial pressures inherent indesigning a building, especially a green building.

Another important advantage of using an independentenergy consultant is that it gives the owner the freedomto include trusted architects and engineers on the designteam, even without having yet achieved a high-efficiencydesign. An energy consultant specializing in energy simu-lation and cost-benefit analysis can be an asset to thearchitecture and engineering firm, and can also be lessexpensive because that is all the energy consultant does;unlike the architect and engineer who must design andspecify every aspect of the building.


Often, owners think they have an energy consultantthrough a commissioning agent. However, a commis-sioning agent’s role is to catch errors to ensure that thebuilding is constructed and operates as designed. Thisfunction does not improve the energy efficiency of thedesign in any way.

Adding an effective energy optimization consultant tothe design team will pay for itself quickly in reduced energybills; it pays for itself immediately through a tax incentive.

For commercial buildings, a federal tax deduction ofup to $1.80 per square foot is available to owners (ordesigners in the case of government-owned facilities) ofnew or existing buildings designed to save 50% of theenergy cost beyond the 90.1-2001 energy code. Thistax incentive is based on a sliding scale, so achieving40%–50% saves considerably more than achieving15%–30% and easily pays for an independent energyconsultant who is directly responsible to the owner forachieving optimal energy efficiency.

A Step-by-Step ProcessIn summary, when considering energy efficiency, followthese steps:1. Define green energy as achieving maximum energy

efficiency at minimum cost.2. Set an aggressive goal to achieve 50% energy reduc-

tion beyond the energy code for every area ofbuilding energy use.

3. Perform energy simulations at the outset of the con-ceptual design phase to assess all energy-efficiencyoptions with paybacks of 15 years or fewer, and doso before any improvements to the heating and cool-ing plants or before adding renewable energytechnologies.

4. Select an experienced design team that includes anindependent energy consultant who represents theowner for achieving optimal energy efficiency.

By following this procedure, you will realize the maxi-mum energy savings at the minimum cost; hence, youwill achieve green energy for your next building project.

ReferencesBuilding Design+Construction. 2009. Study shows 30% aboveASHRAE energy efficiency difficult to reach in buildings, 50%unreachable. March.

Charleston Green Committee. 2009. Charleston green plan: A roadmap to sustainability. City of Charleston, SC.

Kolbert, E. 2009. Obama’s science adviser urges leadership onclimate. Environment 360, August 13.http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2179.

Novarro, M. 2009. Some buildings not living up to green label.New York Times, August 30.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/science/earth/31leed.html.

Joseph Ventresca, MS Energy, LEED AP, is director ofenergy services for Green Schools International in Ohio.Email: [email protected]

Seeing Public Engagement DifferentlyBy Jason Willis

emerging issues


The economic recession has had a profoundeffect on the ability of state and local govern-ments to provide essential services to theircommunities—especially education. For exam-

ple, California school districts are currently operatingwith approximately 14% less revenue than two yearsearlier, according to School Finance 2009–10: A BudgetCataclysm and Its Aftermath, a report published byEdSource in January 2010. Stories about increased classsizes, personnel layoffs, and dwindling support for pro-grams outside core classroom instruction have floodednewspapers around the country.

Despite monumental investments in education bylocal, state, and federal sources, the public does not

understand or recognize efforts to preserve as manyeducation services as possible. For example, in thewake of the economic stimulus legislation passed byCongress in January 2009, a recent Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll (Bushaw and Lopez 2010) revealed thatmore than 70% of Americans said they were not awarethat any of this money benefited their local school com-munity—when it did in fact benefit every school districtin the nation. Respondents also indicated that appro-priate funding for education continues to be one of thebiggest issues facing the schools in their community.

What most Americans don’t realize is that their publicschools have been well supported over the past severaldecades. During the last 30 years in fact, spending on


U.S. education has more than doubled, according to theNational Center for Education Statistics (2008). Asstewards of the public’s financial investment in educationit is the school business officer’s responsibility to ensurethe local community is aware of how we are expendingresources, how and what circumstances of the schooldistrict are changing, and how it affects services.

Gathering Another PerspectiveI recently worked with approximately 100 communityorganizers engaged in school finance advocacy fromacross California. The purpose of the training was todeepen their understanding of California’s school financesystem, identify structural impediments to advancingstudent achievement, and consider potential solutions toensure schools had access to equitable, stable, and suffi-cient resources.

Throughout the training, the community organizersshared their observations about a school district’s dutiesand responsibilities to the public. In particular, theyoffered their perspectives on how we, as school businessprofessionals, orient ourselves relative to educatingstakeholders and the community at large about financialsupport for education, how we distribute resources, andwhat data we use to drive decision making about useof resources.

During our discussions, several things becameapparent.

First, education stakeholders had little understandingof what influences the actions of a school district rela-tive to the allocation of resources. Despite the moun-tains of academic, financial, or demographic data that ismade available to the public, stakeholders seem unableto make the connection between that data and our decision-making processes.

Education stakeholdershad little understandingof what influences theactions of a school districtrelative to the allocationof resources.

For example, the community members do not makethe connection that since approximately 85 cents ofevery dollar a school district spends is on employees,when the school district needs to drastically reduceexpenses, it is nearly impossible to do so without affect-ing employee compensation.

Second, stakeholders describe the finance office as dif-ficult to understand, not forthcoming with information,

and not open about the district’s financial condition.This description may seem harsh, but it probably isbased on a variety of factors, including communicationstyles among stakeholders, forums and opportunities tocommunicate this information, and, most important, amisunderstanding of information.

It is our duty as stewardsof the public’s money tomake school finance moreaccessible, transparent,and easily understandable.

This misunderstanding does not stem from theschool business officer’s reluctance to share informa-tion; rather, school finance is complicated and ourresponsibility to make it understandable and transpar-ent to our stakeholders is difficult to carry out at times.However challenging, it is our duty as stewards of thepublic’s money to make school finance more accessible,transparent, and easily understandable.

Third, since the beginning of the great recession threeyears ago, school districts have struggled to adapt to adifferent resource environment. This economic and fiscalcrisis has forced school business officials to consider andask more questions about the necessity of services. Whilemany school districts have wrestled with these new cir-cumstances, the public has been unaware and unaffectedby these issues, for the most part.

In one sense, this unawareness on the part of the pub-lic is a testament to the school business office’s ability torespond to the challenges of offering quality services inthe face of vastly diminishing resources. The down sideof this trend, however, is that it has not been until justrecently that communities have started to understand thescope and magnitude of the impact that this recession ishaving on school districts and the education servicesthey offer.

Embracing a Renewed RoleSo, how can school business officials engage and informthe public about the challenges school districts face?Further, how can they leverage public engagement tohelp the public rethink and reinvest in solutions thatbenefit the students in our schools? Here are a fewstrategies:1. Make data public and easily accessible.

This is critical to building trust among stakeholdersin the local community, and trust is vital when youmust make difficult decisions about funding priori-ties. Federal and state governments have made abroad-based call for more transparency in how

resources are used, requiring not only details of howfederal stimulus dollars are being used, but alsorequiring reporting of per-pupil expenditures at theschool level. See, for example, the U.S. Departmentof Education General Reporting Requirements—Section 1512 (www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/section-1512.html) and the California Departmentof Education’s ARRA Reporting and DataCollection Systems (www.cde.ca.gov/ar/rr/rptingdatcol.asp).

School districts may use the state’s basic financialreporting requirements as the communication vehi-cle for the organization’s financial standing. Thisinformation is rarely user-friendly and is difficult tointerpret and connect to the educational program.The school business official and other finance officestaff should invest the time to translate this datainto information that is easy for the public tounderstand.

Presenting budget data to the public and explain-ing how it drives school programs can build anatmosphere of openness and transparency in thecommunity. Even the process of making budgetsunderstandable can be transformative in and of itself.For example, the process to attain the Association ofSchool Business Officials Meritorious Budget Awardcan be a formative experience for a school districtthat needs to convert the adoption budget into a simple, easy-to-understand format.

Even the process of makingbudgets UNDERSTANDABLEcan be transformative in andof itself.2. Relate the data to the audience. Most members

of the public do not deal with numbers in the hun-dreds of thousands, let alone the millions. For schoolfinance data to make sense, it needs to be brokendown to a level that people understand. Showingspending on a per-student basis is a start, accordingto the University of Washington’s Marguerite Roza inNow Is a Great Time to Consider the Per Unit Costof Everything in Education (2010). Presenting datathis way can raise reasonable and valid questionsabout the direction of a school district’s investmentsin services for students.

Roza also notes that presenting data in terms ofper-student spending can help identify the relativeamount of money flowing to each school within theschool district and initiate dialogue about whatchoices are in the best interest of students duringtough economic times.

Further, compare spending over time on a per-unitbasis relative to the service provided. TowardEffective Resource Use: Assessing How EducationDollars Are Spent (Willis et al, 2007) cites numerousexamples, including calculating the cost per mile tooperate school transportation.

3. Talk about priorities. Discussions about use ofresources take on a new meaning when funds are nolonger available to support all school district pro-grams. That’s when conversations about prioritiza-tion are vital. Critical to making decisions aboutwhat programs take priority over others is knowing,for one, results of past spending on those programs.The role of the school business official involves more

than ensuring the school district’s solvency. SBOs mustbe able to offer analyses about expenditures and themost effective use of dollars, to generate a nexusbetween the current configuration of resources and thealternatives that can help the district reach its goals.School districts and schools simply can’t afford not tohave this type of information and analysis.

Taking the Next StepSchool business officials play a vital role in buildingpublic trust, engagement, and support for making thecritical decisions that affect public education locallyand nationally. By helping stakeholders better under-stand the complexity of school finance and by promot-ing transparency and accountability, school businessofficials can better ensure more effective use of educa-tion resources.

ReferencesEdSource. January 2010. “2009-10 School Finance: BudgetCataclysm and Its Aftermath.” www.edsource.org. San Jose,California.

Bushaw, W., and S. Lopez. 2010. A time for change: The 42ndAnnual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the public’s attitudestoward the public schools. Phi Delta Kappan, September, pp. 8–26.

National Center for Educational Statistics. 2008. Digest ofEducational Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department ofEducation.

Roza, M. 2010. Now is a great time to consider the per unit costof everything in education. Presentation at the American Enter -prise Institute and Thomas B. Fordham Institute Conference,Washington, DC, January 11, 2010, www.aei.org/docLib/Now%20is%20a%20Great%20Time%20to%20Consider%20the%20Per%20Unit%20Cost%20of%20Everything%20in%20Education-%20Roza.pdf.

Willis, J., R. Durante, and P. Gazzerro. May 2007. TowardEffective Resource Use: Assessing How Education Dollars AreSpent. Working Paper. School Finance Redesign Project. Seattle,Washington.

Jason Willis is the chief finance and business official forStockton Unified School District in California. Email:[email protected]


School Tax Elections: TestingMessages and Targeting VotersBy J. Bradford Senden, Ph.D., and Don E. Lifto, Ph.D.

emerging issues


more precisely than in past tax elections—exactly whatdemographic groups would most likely go to the pollsand support the tax proposal. Message testing and votertargeting became critical components in building a foun-dation for success.

Message-testing and voter-targeting strategies havebeen paramount in consumer research and marketing fordecades. Traditional direct-mail marketing strategies—transformed in recent years by exponential advance-ments in technology—now slice and dice with theprecision of an executive chef, measuring their ingredi-ents with such exotic tools as “neural networking” and“regression analysis.” These new technologies allowmarketers to predict with greater accuracy than everwho will buy their products and services and what messages will resonate with consumers.

Frustrated with the slow pace of adopting these sophis-ticated strategies in the political arena, Hal Malchowchides in The New Political Targeting (Washington, DC:Campaigns and Elections Magazine, 2003), “While commercial marketers stepped boldly into the sunshine of information and knowledge, political marketers haveremained mired in the shadows of instinct and mis -information” (p. 6).

In this particular case, the district’s leaders were determined to come out of the shadows by harnessingthe power of more sophisticated survey and analysismethodologies.

Peeling Back the OnionHarnessing that power begins by exploring the responseto benchmark questions included in a scientific, random-sample community survey completed for the district aspart of its preparation for a return to the ballot. Thisexploration involves processing responses using the classification tree features of SPSS for Windows.

This analytical tool was developed to make it easierto better identify groups, discover relationships betweengroups, and predict future events. In such an analysis,the software is asked to evaluate one question by explor-ing the response among the demographic variablesavailable in the survey.

Just one year after a painful election loss andbudget reductions measured in the millions, asuburban school district found itself back on theballot seeking approval for an increase in prop-

erty taxes to help fund school programs and head off asecond round of draconian cuts.

The political stakes were high for the school boardand superintendent; the stakes were even higher for themore than 13,000 students whose education futureshung precariously in the balance.

Anticipating a substantially larger voter turnout in theupcoming election, district officials needed to probe—

MANAGING SCHOOL BUSINESS IS THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD.LET THE ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BUSINESS OFFICIALS

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How many people can saythey make a difference inthe education of thousandsof students every day ofevery year? You can!

As a school business manager, you advocate for every student in yourdistrict. You make sure they have a way to get to school, textbooks andsupplies when they get there, and a safe and stimulating environmentin which to learn and grow. You work every day to ensure they havenutritious meals, up-to-date technology, and a healthy building.

That's just a slice of your role in promoting education in your district.You also manage employee health and compensation plans, ensurecompliance with education legislation, oversee allocation of resources,work with the community, and so much more.

Every advocate needs an advocate—and that's role of the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO). We are here to provide the resources, connections, and opportunities you need to doyour job effectively.

ResourcesASBO provides the resources, tools, and knowledge you need to developenergy-saving strategies, institute efficient accounting and budgetingsystems, manage risk, manage your facilities, implement your 403(b)plan, and so much more. Pick up a publication. Visit the Website. Attenda workshop, conference, or online seminar. Take advantage of ASBO'sLive Learning Center. Participate in ASBO's virtual economic recoverysummit, where the best minds in school business will come together to help put districts on the road to recovery.

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Figure 1. Classification Tree Resulting from Uninformed Benchmark Question


In the district’s survey, the uninformed benchmarkquestion presented voters with the following:

The Robbinsdale Area Schools will ask voters to approve an increase in its existing operating levy this fall.The proposed referendum will raise $9 million in newfunding for the district. This will result in a property taxincrease of approximately $230 per year for a home withan assessed value of $240,000, which is the averageassessed value of a home in the district. This increasetranslates into a cost of $19 per month. Would you favoror oppose such an increase?

When the classification tree analysis was applied tothe responses to this question, it produced the classifica-tion tree illustrated in Figure 1.

The analysis software had access to all the demo-graphic characteristics of the voters interviewed as partof this survey. This classification tree tells us that thegreatest difference in voter response is found among menand women (the first branch of the tree). As is true inmost tax elections, women are more supportive of thedistrict’s proposed tax increase.

The second set of branches in the classification tree tellsus that the area of the district in which the voter lives isimportant. For example, men living in the Golden Valleyarea are more supportive than other men in the district,whereas women in the Robbinsdale and Crystal areas areless supportive than women in the rest of the district.

After the presentation of the uninformed benchmarkquestion, the voters being interviewed were given detailedinformation about the tax proposal the district was con-sidering. Each voter was then asked the followinginformed benchmark question:

Now that you have heard some information about the district’s need to ask for an increase in its operating levy, I want to see if this information has changed your opinion.One reminder first: the average assessed value of a home inthe district is $240,000. Would you favor or oppose such anincrease knowing that it will raise $9 million in new fundingfor the district and result in a property tax increase ofapproximately $230 per year—or $19 per month—for ahome with an assessed value of $240,000?

The classification tree generated from the responsescollected after information had been presented is verydifferent (see Figure 2). Gender is no longer the most sig-nificant demographic characteristic. Now a voter’s age isthe most important factor. Age has replaced where menlive as the most significant factor among male respon-dents. Gender is important among younger voters, withwomen much more supportive of the district’s tax pro-posal after information has been presented.

Among voters older than 48, the area of the district isimportant. Even after information has been presented,the district’s proposal has very little support among oldervoters in the Robbinsdale area of the district.

Exploring the responses to the benchmark questionshelps the campaign for the district’s proposal focus andtarget its voter-contact efforts. In this example, the campaign will need to do more than just provide infor-mation to the older voters in the Robbinsdale area.Depending on the number of voters in this group andtheir voting history, the campaign will need to develop aunique approach to this “microtarget” group.

Exploring the responses tothe benchmark questionshelps the campaign for the district’s proposalfocus and target its voter-contact efforts.

Researchers can also use classification tree analysis totest how different types of voters respond to statementsin support of the district’s tax proposal (see Figure 3). In this survey, for example, voters were asked to stronglyagree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the fol-lowing statement: “Investing in the quality of the localpublic school is essential if we are to maintain a safe,thriving, and vibrant community.”

Overall, voters overwhelmingly agreed with this state-ment, with 92% strongly agreeing or agreeing. Gen er -ating a classification tree from these responses, however,revealed significant differences in intensity based ongeography and age. The number of voters stronglyagreeing with this statement was higher in the GoldenValley, Plymouth, and Robbinsdale areas of the district.

In those geographical areas, agreement with this state-ment was more intense among voters younger than 66.Therefore, making this statement as part of an argumentfor the district’s tax proposal will have its greatest impactamong younger voters in these areas of the district.

One of the most common advocacy arguments inschool tax elections is the contention that investing inquality schools enhances the value of homes and busi-nesses within the district. Rather than simply relying onfaith as to whether such an argument might work in anyschool district, it can be tested scientifically.

We can determine the best audience for this idea byapplying classification tree analysis to the responses col-lected when voters were asked to agree or disagree withthe statement: “Investing in the quality of the local pub-lic schools will protect the value of every home andbusiness in the community.”

The classification analysis makes it clear that age is animportant factor in determining which voters will havethe strongest positive reaction to this statement (seeFigure 4). Voters 38 years old or younger are more likely


Figure 2. Classification Tree Resulting from Informed Benchmark Question

Figure 3. Classification Tree Resulting from Responsesto Statement Supporting the District’s Tax Proposal

Figure 4. Classification Tree Resulting from Responsesto Statement Regarding Investing in Schools


to strongly agree with this statement than are votersolder than 38.

The area of the district in which the voter lives is alsoimportant among older voters. In the Golden Valley,Plymouth, and Crystal areas of the district, older votersare slightly more likely to strongly agree with this state-ment than are the older voters in the rest of the district.Of some concern, however, is the fact that almost as manyolder voters in these areas say they disagree with thisstatement as those who say they strongly agree with it.

The presentation of this statement in these areas pro-duces both a positive and a negative reaction; therefore,the campaign in support of the district’s proposal musttarget younger voters with the presentation of this idea.

Research to PracticeAs the number of school-age families continues to shrinkand voters are increasingly tightfisted with their hard-earned dollars, passing new school taxes is becomingmore difficult. The politics of talk radio and the impactof a variety of instant-messaging technologies also con-tribute to an increasingly difficult landscape. This elec -tion context is one that is unlikely to respond well tothe strategies of the past.

Hal Malchow’s exhortation to step out of “the shadowsof instinct and misinformation” and into the “sunshine of

information and knowledge” is demonstrated by the sur-vey and message-testing strategies outlined here. Analyzingthe feasibility of the tax proposal with a well-designed, sci-entific, random-sample survey and then using sophisticatedanalytics to test voters’ responses to arguments and ele-ments of the potential tax proposal provide the district andcampaign with the information and knowledge needed tocommunicate effectively.

In the case of this suburban school district, a devastat-ing loss was followed one year later by a very successfulcampaign and two ballot questions that succeeded at thepolls. The analytical tools described in this article werepart of the foundation for moving forward with data-driven planning and effective campaign strategies.

J. Bradford Senden, Ph.D., is managing partner of the Centerfor Community Opinion, which specializes in survey researchand data preparation needed to win tax elections. He is coau-thor of School Finance Elections: A Comprehensive PlanningModel for Success, 2nd edition. Email: [email protected]

Don E. Lifto, Ph.D., is senior vice president and director of thePublic Education Group at Springsted Incorporated, a publicfinance advisory and consulting firm based in St. Paul,Minnesota. He is coauthor of School Finance Elections: A Comprehensive Planning Model for Success, 2nd edition.Email: [email protected]

The Intermediate Unit’s Board of Directors acknowl-edged that they demonstrated a “lack of oversight.” Thislapse in oversight is having serious repercussions withinthe education entity and the community it serves.

Most noteworthy is the involvement of the state audi-tor general’s office in determining how much money theformer executive director can be paid for accrued sickand vacation days. In addition, the Intermediate Unit’sboard declared that the former employee is ineligible forthe retirement incentive he was awarded.

Further fueling the public’s perception of the formerexecutive’s payout was a letter written by a member ofthe intermediate unit’s board and read aloud at a meet-ing of one of the member school boards that indicatedthat few of the board members knew the terms of theformer executive director’s contract and were notaware of the provisions in his successor’s contract.

The dilemmas facing the former and current executivedirectors of the intermediate unit, the administrativestaff, the board of directors, and the 20 member schooldistricts and their boards of directors and the commu-nity has placed the entire entity under the collectivemicroscopes of all taxpayers whose dollars support theIU as well as member school districts.

The process of untangling this complicated mess andanswering questions regarding the ethical and profes-sional behaviors of individuals in leadership roles withinthe educational community will not be an easy task.Reputations will be tarnished, the memories of acts of goodwill and kindness will be replaced by mistrust.

Keeping the TrustWhile this scenario brought to the forefront the short-comings of an established education agency, other schooldistricts can learn valuable lessons related to the ever-present need for ethical and responsible operations.

Education entities must have safeguards in place thatprevent unethical behaviors and internal monitoring sys-tems that assure that those in positions of leadership andauthority do not break the sacred trust they have withtheir constituents.

Robert Ruder, Ed.D., is a retired school administrator inLancaster, Pennsylvania. Email: [email protected]

When employees of public school entitiesretire after 35 or 40 years of service, theyusually take with them a reputation builton goodwill and trust within the com -

munity in which they worked. The school communitycelebrates their accomplishments with luncheons, recep-tions, and dinners all designed to show appreciation forall they have done for the organization and for the students it serves. While their physical departure isimmediate, their legacy continues.

But what happens if months later, evidence emergesthat the educator behaved in a manner that brings intoquestion his or her ethical, moral, and professional standards and casts the organization in a negative light?

Such a scenario recently eroded the public’s trust ineducation in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Prior to retiring, the executive director of an inter -mediate unit (an organization comprised of 20 schooldistricts within a specific geographic region) authorized apayment of more than $600,000 to himself.

Utilizing a right-to-know request, The Scranton Times-Tribune newspaper obtained copies of the personnel/payroll data sheets that verified the administrator’s signature on the approval lines.

According to an article that appeared in the September1, 2010 edition of the newspaper, there was an authoriza-tion of payment for 724 accrued days, which included 405sick and personal days, 289 vacation days through the2009–2010 year, and 30 vacation days for the 2010–2011year. Based on the administrator’s per diem rate of $663,the amount he believed he was due for the unused vacationdays for the 2010–2011 year amounted to $19,890.However, the administrator retired in June, which shouldhave made him eligible for 15 vacation days.

Another personnel/payroll data sheet indicated thatthe administrator authorized a payment of more than$140,000 to himself for a retirement incentive. Thisamount was based on 90% of his salary plus an annu-ity. Separate from the Pennsylvania Public SchoolEmployees’ Retirement System, the annuity paymentswent to a retirement account designed to provide theadministrator with $550 every two weeks at the conclu-sion of his contract.

Ensuring Ethical Behaviorof School District LeadersBy Robert Ruder, Ed.D.

leadership



School Boundaries: Finding SolutionsWhile Gaining Community SupportBy William Lazarus, Ph.D.

Some of the most complicatedissues facing school districtsacross the country revolvearound resource allocation

and student assignment planning.Determining school attendanceboundaries, selecting sites for newschools, closing existing ones, balanc-ing seat utilization while minimizingtravel costs, and achieving socioeco-nomic diversity are all daunting

challenges with enormous political,economic, and emotional stakes.

How can district administratorsgain parent and community supportfor decisions that are intrinsicallymultidimensional, complex, andfraught with emotion? How canthey evaluate and communicate thedifficult policy trade-offs and winbroad-based support and commu-nity consensus?

One school district in Tampa,Florida, has found answers to someof these questions. HillsboroughCounty Public Schools, the nation’seighth-largest school district, part-nered with a research firm to pioneera new methodology for creatingschool attendance boundaries—a process that engages the commu-nity, optimizes efficiency, andincreases school diversity.

The approach is transparent andencourages community participationat every stage. In a large-scale2008–2009 “reboundary” projectinvolving nine high schools andnearly 25,000 students, the method-ology proved so successful that nota single parent or community mem-ber opposed the new boundaries atthe final adoption meeting.

The techniques developed inHillsborough County are broadlyapplicable to urban districts seekingto drive school diversity in the con-text of the Supreme Court’s 2007Parents Involved decision, whichprohibits the use of individual stu-dent ethnicity for the purposes ofdeveloping school boundaries andfor all student assignment planning.

Diversity and Resource UseTo understand how the process ismost effectively applied, it’s impor-tant to first define the issues thatHillsborough County Public Schoolshoped to overcome by drawing newschool attendance boundaries.

Hillsborough County PublicSchools has long struggled to over-come racial segregation within thedistrict. From 1971 to 2001, the district was under a court-ordered

the education enterprise

desegregation plan. The school board made diversity andinclusion a policy priority for the district, and throughmagnet and school choice plans, the district made signifi-cant progress in achieving its diversity goals. But at thesame time, district transportation costs increased dra-matically, as district-provided student transportationbecame a primary option in allowing students to takeadvantage of magnet and school choice programs.

While the district moved to combat racial isolationand enhance diversity, it also faced significant chal-lenges to achieving efficient and consistent levels ofclassroom use. The combination of the success ofschool choice plans and shifts in migration and residen-tial settlement patterns created significant geographicalimbalances. Thus, while some schools operated at120% capacity and the district spent millions on costlyportables, others were at only 60% capacity. In all,nearly 20% of the district’s seats were unfilled.

Combined with constitutionally mandated class-sizerequirements, the imbalances created a difficult set ofstudent assignment challenges. And while fosteringdiversity is a positive educational goal for theHillsborough County Public Schools, the requirementsof the Supreme Court’s Parents Involved decision madeit even more difficult to address the challenges of creat-ing schools that are diverse and inclusive. Without newtools and approaches that would seem fair and reason-able to parents and the community, HillsboroughCounty Public Schools risked sliding back toward segregation of its schools.

A New ApproachTo address these issues, the district took steps todevelop a new process for drawing new school atten-dance boundaries, testing the methodology in an initialpilot project. The first step, in 2007, was to create anattendance boundary for a new middle school usinga sophisticated set of geospatial modeling tools.

The district contracted with a consumer researchcompany based in Tampa to manage the technicalaspects of the pilot. Specifically, the company built amultivariate trade-off model that allowed district staffto assess the utilization and transportation conse-quences of 28 potential boundary options. Afterreviewing the options, staff selected the best solution,which was adopted by the school board with minimaldisagreement from the community.

Based on the initial success of the middle school proj-ect, the district collaborated with the company on asecond phase of work that involved developing bound-aries and a boundary-setting process for two new andseven existing high schools in 2008–2009.

For this type of complex effort, staff members typi-cally begin with maps, spreadsheets, and a geographicinformation system and produce current boundary

maps; draw and “tweak” boundaries; run GIS queries;and, as quickly as possible, settle on a set of boundariesthat work. This kind of process commonly involvesmonths of work to produce just one or two sets ofattendance boundaries for the board to approve.

In the Hillsborough approach, the analysis startedwith a question: “Based on what criteria and whatdecision rules do we want to develop our boundaries?”With school board leadership and operational guidancefrom staff, the project team established that utilizationbalance, transportation cost, and diversity criteriawould be used to evaluate eventual boundary options.

The team designed a diversity index that allowed themeasurement of relative diversity but did not use anystudent-specific racial or ethnic data. Then, using theagreed-on decision rules, the team built a multiobjectivegeospatial optimization model. Over thousands ofmodel runs, the team generated multiple boundary solu-tions with different weights given to different criteria.

District staff and board members reviewed 79 “opti-mal” boundary scenarios that were fully documented interms of the school-specific utilization and transporta-tion trade-offs. The diversity index was calculated forpotential solutions, allowing decision makers to evalu-ate the diversity implications of each possible solution.Staff selected four scenarios that were deemed mosteffective in balancing use while minimizing transporta-tion and enhancing diversity.

The process was, by its very nature,unbiased, evenhanded, and fair.

After these four scenarios were chosen, the team pro-duced the maps. By using this method to evaluate andselect “the best” boundary scenarios, no one on thestaff or analytical team could possibly know whichneighborhoods and households would be affected bythe boundary changes. Staff decisions on which mapsto create were made solely on the basis of the decisioncriteria and the weightings agreed on by the board atthe beginning of the process. The process was, by itsvery nature, unbiased, evenhanded, and fair.

Community Buy-In: Key to SuccessAt the outset of the high school project, district staffscheduled a series of school-based community meetingsto explain the boundary selection process and engagein a dialogue with concerned parents and communitymembers. The project team explained the process,emphasizing that decisions would be driven by explicit,known criteria and rigorous analytics. The team alsoexplained that the decisions reached would be “blind”with respect to specific communities and householdsand that maps would be produced only near the endof the decision-making process.


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At every parent and communitymeeting, the team reiterated thedecision criteria and asked partici-pants if they had other higher pri -orities for the new boundaries. Allparticipants agreed that the decisioncriteria were fair and reasonable.

At the end of the project, before for-mal board consideration, additionalcommunity meetings were held andproposed boundary maps were dis-played and discussed. The projectteam listened to parental concernsabout neighborhoods, transportationburdens, and impacts on the avail-ability of certain academic programsand cocurricular activities. Staff handled many of these concerns on a case-by-case basis and even mademinor boundary adjustments to takeinto account legitimate communityconcerns and ground truth.

By engaging the communitythroughout the process, the districtobtained buy-in and won supportfor the new boundaries. At the finaladoption meeting, not a single par-ent or community member addressedthe board to dispute the proposedboundaries.

The district achieved school uti-lization balance and the maximumdifference between “full” and“empty” schools was six percentagepoints. At the same time, the districtwas able to reduce annual trans-portation costs by hundreds ofthousands of dollars and increase

diversity by as much as 11% at someschools with only a 2% increase inrelated transportation costs.

Because of the success of the pilotprojects, the Hillsborough CountyPublic Schools won 1 of 10 federallyfunded demonstration project grantsto plan new boundaries for thecounty’s 46 middle schools.

At the final adoptionmeeting, not a singleparent or communitymember addressed theboard to dispute theproposed boundaries.

With this proven methodology,districts not only can realize what in the past appeared to be mutuallyexclusive goals but also can gainconsensus from community mem-bers involved in the process—thereby facilitating better and moreeffective planning in the future.

By combining rigorous, evidence-based analytics with an exercise in community citizenship, these projects demonstrate that schooldistricts can attain attendanceboundaries that are efficient anddiverse.

William Lazarus, Ph.D., is president and CEO of SeerAnalytics, a consumerresearch company based in Tampa,Florida. Email: [email protected]


ASBO InternationalStrategic Partners

Affinity Partner

Honoring Transparent Financial Reporting

certificate of excellence awards


Congratulations to theschool districts thatreceived the Certificate ofExcellence (COE) in

Financial Reporting award for thefiscal year ending 2009. We applaudthese 490 award-winning districts forexcellence in their preparation andissuance of their ComprehensiveAnnual Financial Reports (CAFRs)and for their commitment to fiscalaccountability to their stakeholders.

The COE program, sponsored byVALIC, promotes high-quality finan-cial reporting to the community. In addition to the recognition theseschool districts receive for winningthis award, they benefit fromincreased credibility and integritythroughout their district and theircommunity.

ALASKAAnchorage School DistrictBering Strait School DistrictFairbanks North Star Borough School

DistrictKenai Peninsula Borough School DistrictMatanuska Susitna Borough School

District*

ARIZONAAgua Fria Union High School

District No. 216Alhambra Elementary School

District No. 68Altar Valley Elementary School

District No. 51Amphitheater Unified School

District No.10Apache Junction Unified School

District No. 43Avondale Elementary School

District No. 44

Balsz Elementary School District No. 31Benson Unified School District No. 9Buckeye Union High School

District No. 201Cartwright Elementary School

District No. 83Casa Grande Elementary School

District No. 4Catalina Foothills Unified School

District No. 16Cave Creek Unified School DistrictChandler Unified School District No. 80Chinle Unified School District No. 24Coolidge Unified School District No. 16Crane Elementary School District No. 13Creighton Elementary School

District No. 14Deer Valley Unified School District

No. 97Douglas Unified School District No. 27Dysart Unified School District No.89East Valley Institute of Technology

School District No. 401Flagstaff Unified School District No. 1Flowing Wells Unified School District No. 8Fountain Hills Unified School

District No. 98Gadsden Elementary School District No. 32Gilbert Unified School District No. 41Glendale Elementary School District No. 40Glendale Union High School

District No. 205Heber Overgaard Unified School

District No. 6Higley Unified School District No. 60Humboldt Unified School District No. 22Lake Havasu Unified School District No. 1Liberty Elementary School District No. 25Littleton Elementary School District No. 65Madison Elementary School District No. 38Mammoth-San Manuel Unified School

District No. 8Maricopa Unified School District No. 20Mesa Unified School District No. 4Mingus Union High School District No. 4Murphy Unified School District No. 21Nogales Unified School District No. 1Page Unified School District No. 8Paradise Valley Unified School

District No. 69

Payson Unified School District No. 10Pendergast Elementary School District

No. 92Peoria Unified School District No. 11Phoenix Elementary School District No. 1Phoenix Union High School District No. 210Pima County Joint Technological

Education District No. 11Pima County School Reserve FundPrescott Unified School District No. 1Queen Creek Unified School District No. 95Safford Unified School District No. 1Sahuarita Unified School District No. 30Sanders Unified School District No. 18Santa Cruz Valley Unified School

District No. 35Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified School

District No. 9Sierra Vista Unified School District No. 68Snowflake Unified School District No. 5Somerton Elementary School

District No. 11Stanfield Elementary School District No. 24Sunnyside Unified School District No. 12Tanque Verde Unified School

District No. 13Tempe Elementary School District No. 3Tempe Union High School District No. 213Tolleson Elementary School District No. 17Tombstone Unified School District No. 1Tucson Unified School District No. 1Vail Unified School District No. 20Washington Elementary School

District No. 6Western Maricopa Education

Center No. 402Wilson Elementary School District No. 7Yuma Elementary School District No. 1Yuma Union High School District No. 70

CALIFORNIALos Altos School District

COLORADOAcademy School District TwentyAdams 12 Five Star SchoolsAdams County School District No. 14Adams County School District No. 50Boulder Valley School District RE-2*

*Denotes first-time participant in theCOE program.

Cherry Creek School District No. 5Colorado Springs School District No. 11El Paso County School District Two—

HarrisonJefferson County School District No. R-1*Mapleton Public SchoolsPoudre School DistrictSchool District 1 in the City and County

of DenverSt. Vrain Valley School District RE 1JThompson School District R2-JWeld County School District No. 6

FLORIDADistrict School Board of Escambia

CountyDistrict School Board of Martin CountyDistrict School Board of Pasco CountyDistrict School Board of Seminole CountyDistrict School Board of Volusia CountyDuval County Public SchoolsOrange County Public SchoolsSchool Board of Brevard CountySchool Board of Indian River CountySchool Board of Miami-Dade CountySchool District of Manatee CountyThe School Board of Broward CountyThe School Board of Sarasota CountyThe School District of Lee CountySchool District of Palm Beach County

GEORGIAAtlanta Independent School District*Clayton County Public SchoolsCobb County School DistrictFulton County Board of EducationGriffin-Spalding County School SystemGwinnett County Board of EducationMuscogee County School DistrictThe Board of Public Education for the City

of Savannah & County of Chatham, GA

IDAHOPocatello/Chubbuck School

District No. 25

ILLINOISAddison School District No. 4Aptakisic Tripp Community Consolidated

School District No. 102Arlington Heights School District No. 25Batavia Community Unit School

District No. 101Chicago Public SchoolsCommunity Consolidated School

District No. 47Community Consolidated School




District No. 146

Community Consolidated School District No. 181

Community High School District No. 99Community High School District No. 128Community Unit School District No. 201Community Unit School District No. 300Darien School District No. 61Deerfield Public School District No. 109Elmhurst Community Unit School

District 205*Evanston Township High School

District No. 202Glen Ellyn School District No. 41Glencoe School District No. 35Harlem Consolidated School

District No. 122Hinsdale Township High School District

No. 86Indian Prarie School District No. 204Joliet Junior College, Community

College District No. 525Joliet Public Schools District No. 86Joliet Township High School

District No. 204LaGrange Elementary School

District No. 102Leyden Community High School

District No. 212*Lincoln Land Community CollegeLombard Elementary School

District No. 44Macomb Community Unit School

District No. 185Marquardt School District No. 15Matteson Elementary School

District No. 162Moraine Valley Community CollegeNew Trier Township High School

District No. 203Niles Township High School

District No. 219Northbrook School District 27*Northfield Township High School

District No. 225North Shore School District No. 112Oak Park and River Forest High School

District No. 200Orland School District No. 135Palos Community Consolidated School

District No. 118Queen Bee School District No. 16River Forest Public School District No. 90Rockford Public Schools*Rock Island School District No. 41Schaumburg Community School

District No. 54School District No. 87-Cook CountySchool District U-46*Skokie School District No. 75.5South Suburban College Community

College District No. 510Springfield School District No. 186Summit Hill School District No. 161

Township High School District No. 113Township High School District No. 211Township High School District 214*Valley View Public School Community

Unit School District No. 365-UWaukegan Community Unit School

District No. 60Wilmette Public School District 39Woodridge School District 68Woodstock Community Unit School

District No. 200

IOWACedar Rapids Community School DsitrictDavenport Community School DistrictDes Moines Independent Community

School DistrictDubuque Community School District*Iowa City Community School DistrictJohnston Community School DistrictLinn-Mar Community School DistrictMt. Pleasant Community SchoolsNevada Community School DistrictNorth Scott Community School DistrictSioux City Community School DistrictSoutheast Polk Community School DistrictWaterloo Community School DistrictWest Des Moines Community School

District

KANSASBlue Valley School District USD No. 229Olathe School District, Unified School

District No. 233Shawnee Mission Unified School

Distrcit No. 512Unified School District No. 259, Wichita

Public Schools

LOUISIANACaddo Parish School BoardCalcasieu Parish School BoardDesoto Parish School BoardEast Baton Rouge Parish School SystemJefferson Parish Public School SystemLafayette Parish School SystemLaSalle Parish School BoardLincoln Parish School BoardOuachita Parish School SystemSt. Bernard Parish School BoardSt. Charles Parish School BoardSt. James Parish School BoardSt. John The Baptist Parish School BoardSt. Tammany Parish School BoardTangipahoa Parish School SystemVernon Parish School BoardWashington Parish School SystemWebster Parish School Board

MARYLANDAnne Arundel County Public SchoolsBaltimore City Public School SystemBaltimore County Public Schools


Cecil County Public SchoolsFrederick County Public SchoolsHoward County Public School SystemMongomery County Public Schools

MICHIGANBlack River Public SchoolBloomfield Hills SchoolsClarkston Community SchoolsDetroit Public SchoolsFarmington Public School DistrictForest Hills Public SchoolsGrand Blanc Community SchoolsL’Anse Creuse Public SchoolsOakland SchoolsOttawa Area Intermediate School DistrictPortage Public SchoolsPort Huron Area School DistrictRockford Public SchoolsSaginaw Intermediate School DistrictSchool District of the City of SaginawSouth Lyon Community SchoolsSouthfield Public SchoolsTraverse City Area Public SchoolsTroy School DistrictWalled Lake Consolidated School DistrictWayne Westland Community Schools

MINNESOTAAnoka-Hennepin Independent School

District No. 11Columbia Heights Public SchoolsEden Prairie Independent School

District No. 272Farmington Area SchoolsIndependent School District No. 199-

Inver Grove HeightsIndependent School District No. 191Independent School District No. 196Independent School District No. 279—

Osseo Area SchoolsIndependent School District No. 284Independent School District No. 624Independent School District No. 728Independent School District No. 833—

South Washington County SchoolsMarshall Public Schools—ISD #413*Minnetonka Independent School

District No. 276Mounds View Public Schools

Independent School District No. 621Owatonna Public District Independent

School District No. 761Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools*Robbinsdale Area Schools, Independent

School District No. 281Spring Lake Park Independent School

District No. 16Stillwater Area Public Schools-

Independent School District No. 834

Willmar Public Schools IndependentSchool District No. 347

MISSOURIColumbia Public School DistrictParkway C-2 School DistrictRockwood R-VI School DistrictSpecial Administrative Board of

Transitional School District, St. LouisThe School District of Springfield R-XII

MONTANABillings Public Schools

NEW JERSEYBayonne Board of EducationBergen County Special Services School

DistrictBergen County Technical and Vocational

High SchoolChester School DistrictCity of Orange Township Public Schools*East Orange Board of EducationGarfield Board of EducationGlen Rock Public SchoolsJersey City Public SchoolsLogan Township Board of Education*Manchester Township Board of

EducationMarlboro Township Board of EducationNeptune Township Board of EducationNewark Public SchoolsPrinceton Regional SchoolsRiver Vale Board of EducationSchool District of the ChathamsThe Piscataway Townshop Board of

EducationUnion City Board of EducationWest-Windsor Plainsboro Regional

School DistrictWyckoff Township Public Schools

NEW YORKCity School District of White Plains,

New YorkEast Meadow Union Free School DistrictHarrison Central School Distric, New YorkRochester City School District

NORTH CAROLINAAsheville City SchoolsBrunswick County SchoolsBuncombe County Board of EducationCaldwell County SchoolsCarteret County SchoolsCatawba County Board of EducationChapel Hill-Carrboro City SchoolsCharlotte Mecklenburg Board of EducationCraven County Board of EducationCumberland County Board of EducationCurrituck County Board of EducationDurham Public Schools

Gaston County Board of EducationGuilford County Board of EducationHarnett County Board of EducationHickory City Board of EducationLee County SchoolsLincoln County Board of EducationNew Hanover County SchoolsNewton-Conover City SchoolsOnslow County Board of EducationPitt County Board of EducationRockingham County SchoolsRutherford County SchoolsUnion Academy*Wake County Board of Education

NORTH DAKOTABoard of Education of the City of Fargo

OHIOAvon Lake City School DistrictBeavercreek City School DistrictBrecksville- Broadview Heights City

School DistrictButler Technology and Career

Development SchoolChillicothe City School DistrictCircleville City School DistrictCleveland Heights University Heights

City School DistrictCleveland Municipal School DistrictColumbus City School DistrictCuyahoga Heights SchoolsCuyahoga Valley Career CenterDayton City School DistrictDublin City School DistrictElectronic Classroom of TomorrowFairfield City School DistrictFindlay City School DistrictGreat Oaks Institute of Career

Technology & DevelopmentGreenville City School DistrictHamilton City School DistrictHudson City School DistrictKettering City School DistrictLakota Local School DistrictLittle Miami Local School DistrictLogan-Hocking Local School DistrictLondon City School District*


Honor Your Commitment to Fiscal IntegrityApply this year to receive the COE.Any school entity that incorporatesASBO’s COE Checklist in developingthe CAFR is eligible to apply.Participants must submit their CAFRwithin six months of their fiscal yearend. For more information, visitwww.asbointl.org/COE or contactMichelle Perkins, 866/682-2729 x7067, [email protected]

Mayfield City School DistrictMiami Valley Career Technology Center*Middletown City School DistrictMonroe Local School DistrictNorth Olmsted City SchoolsNorthwest Local School DistrictOak Hills Local School District*Oakwood City School DistrictPike County Joint Vocational School

DistrictPortsmouth City School DistrictPrinceton City School DistrictSandusky City School DistrictShaker Heights City School DistrictSouthern Hills Joint Vocational School

DistrictStow-Munroe City School DistrictSycamore Community SchoolsTalawanda School DistrictToledo City School DistrictTrotwood- Madison City School DistrictWaverly City School DistrictWest Clermont Local School DistrictWestern Brown Local School DistrictWesterville City School DistrictWinton Woods City School District

OKLAHOMAIndependent School District No. I-1,

Tulsa CountyUnion Public Schools, Independent

District I-009

OREGONAdministrative School District No. 1Beaverton School DistrictCanby School District No. 86Gresham-Barlow School District No. 10JTJackson County School District No. 549CMcMinnville School District No. 40*Multnomah County School District No. 40Oregon City School District No. 62Salem-Keizer School District No. 24JSchool District No. 1, Multnomah County

PENNSYLVANIABucks County Schools Intermediate

Unit No. 22Columbia Borough School DistrictDallastown Area School DistrictGreat Valley School DistrictMt. Lebanon School DistrictNeshaminy School DistrictOwen J. Roberts School DistrictSchool District of PhiladelphiaSchool District of PittsburghSolanco School DistrictSouth Western School District

SOUTH CAROLINAAnderson School District FiveCherokee County School District One

Fort Mill School District No. 4Horry County School DistrictLexington County School District OneLexington School District TwoOrangeburg Consolidated School

District FiveRichland County School District OneRichland School District TwoRock Hill School District Three of York

CountySchool District Five of Lexington and

Richland CountiesSchool Distict of Pickens CountyThe School District of Georgetown

CountyThe School District of Greenville CountyThe School District of Newberry CountyYork School District One

SOUTH DAKOTAYankton School District No. 63-3

TENNESSEEBoard of Education of the Memphis City

Schools

TEXASAlief Independent School DistrictArlington Independent School DistrictBrownsville Independent School DistrictCarrollton-Farmers Branch Independent

School DistrictClear Creek Independent School DistrictConroe Independent School DisrictCypress-Fairbanks Independent School

DistrictDallas County Schools*Denton Independent School DistrictDeSoto Independent School DistrictEducation Service Center Region 10Fort Bend Indpendent School DistrictFort Worth Independent School DistrictGarland Independent School DistrictGoose Creek Consolidated Independent

School DistrictGrapevine-Colleyville Independent

School DistrictHarris County Department of EducationHighland Park Independent School

DistrictHouston Independent School DistrictHumble Independent School DistrictHurst-Euless-Bedford Independent

School DistrictIrving Independent School DistrictKaty Indpendent School DistrictKeller Independent School DistrictKilleen Independent School DistrictKlein Independent School DistrictLake Dallas Independent School DistrictLamar Consolidated Independent

School District

Leander Independent School DistrictLewisville Independent School DistrictNorthwest Independent School DistrictPflugerville Independent School DistrictRegion 4 Education Service CenterRichardson Independent School DistrictSan Angelo Independent School DistrictSan Antonio Independent School DistrictSpring Independent School DistrictStafford Municipal School District*Tomball Independent School DistrictTyler Independent School DistrictWylie Independent School District*Zapata County Independent School

District*

UTAHAlpine School DistrictBeaver County School DistrictEmery School DistrictGranite School DistrictProvo City School DistrictSalt Lake City School DistrictSevier School DistrictWashington County School District

VIRGINIAAlexandria City Public SchoolsCity of Portsmouth, Virginia School

BoardFairfax County Public SchoolsFauquier County School BoardLoudoun County Public Schools*Newport News Public Schools*Prince William County Public SchoolsRoanoke County Public SchoolsSchool Board for the City of NorfolkSchool Board of the City of Virginia

BeachSpotsylvania County Schools*The School Board of the City of

Richmond, VAWilliamsburg-James City County Public

SchoolsYork County School Division

WASHINGTONAuburn School District No. 408Clover Park School District No. 400Everett Public SchoolsKent School District No. 415Renton School District No. 403Spokane Public SchoolsTacoma School District No. 10

WISCONSINGateway Technical College DistrictKenosha Unified School District No. 1School District of Kettle Moraine

WYOMINGCampbell County School District No. 1


Ten years ago, the public schools inBellevue, Nebraska, were poised forinnovation. With energy costs increas-ing throughout the district and out-

dated, energy-inefficient buildings, the BellevuePublic School District was in need of a whole-sale change for doing business.

Superintendent John Deegan faced decisionsabout constructing buildings that were energyefficient and environmentally sound, renovatingbuildings that would have efficient indoor envi-ronmental conditions, and updating HVAC(heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) con-trols and equipment. He and the businessdepartment established a three-phase plan toimprove the efficiency of all district buildings.

Phase 1: Geothermal DesignIn 2001, the Bellevue School District began thedesign phase for the construction of a new ath-letic facility (Lied Activity Center) and adminis-trative building (Welcome Center). The districtplanned to construct both buildings on a 25-acre plot near Highway 370 and Ft. CrookRoad.

Before breaking ground, Deegan and theBellevue Board of Education had to make animportant decision: what type of HVAC sys-tems would the district incorporate in thesefacilities? After numerous meetings with schoolarchitects, the district was presented with twochoices.

The first HVAC option for the two newbuildings had been used in previous construc-tion projects in the district. Each buildingwould use traditional boilers to heat the build-ings and chillers to cool the facilities. Theboiler/chiller concept was a comfortable choicefor both Deegan and the school board, as thedistrict had constructed two school buildingsduring the previous eight years using the tradi-tional boiler/chiller model.

The second HVAC option was to proactively“go green” and implement high-efficiency, envi-ronmentally sound ground loop heat exchange

(GLHE) systems for each new building. Withthe GLHE systems, the heating and air-condi-tioning of the two new buildings would usealternative clean energy, or “geothermal”energy, to heat and cool the buildings.

After conducting an extensive study with theOmaha Public Power District, visiting schoolbuildings throughout the Midwest that hadalready implemented ground source heat pump(GSHP) systems, and collaborating with theschool’s architects, Deegan and the schoolboard decided to go green and implement theGLHE system in both the new Welcome Centerand the Lied Activity Center.

Using geothermal energy would be a sustain-able solution because the ground temperatureswould remain more consistent, making it easierto heat water during the winter and to coolwater during the summer. In 2003, both theWelcome Center and the Lied Activity Centerbegan operating using sustainable, environmen-tally sound GLHE systems, which effectivelyheated and cooled the two buildings.

Phase 2: Restrooms and LightingAt the same time the school district was imple-menting these geothermal designs in the newbuildings, Deegan and the school board werealso looking at energy costs throughout the dis-trict. They discovered that the district couldimprove efficiency and save money in areassuch as lighting, sinks and faucets, toilets, andwindows.

After conducting research, they met with thedistrict’s business department to discuss theseenergy problems and possible solutions. Threemonths later, they completed a systematic planto address the energy-efficiency problemsthroughout existing buildings in the Bellevuedistrict.

To improve lighting efficiency, all high-energyballasts throughout the district were scheduledfor replacement with electronic ballasts. Thereplacement of all T-12 florescent tubing (F45wattage bulbs) with T-8 florescent tubing (F32


Operation GreenBy Matt Blomenkamp

The school district

began installing

automatic light

sensors in all

classroom and

commons areas

throughout the

district.

facilities

wattage bulbs) would save both energyand money for the Bellevue schools.This two-part phase of the efficiencyplan was completed in August 2009.

In 2007, the school district alsobegan installing automatic light sensorsin all classroom and commons areasthroughout the district. The sensorsresulted in an 9% decrease in energyusage, which, according to U.S.Department of Energy estimates,resulted in a decrease of 2 millionpounds of carbon dioxide greenhousegas emissions per year, saving the dis-trict $72,000 annually.

As in many schools throughout thecountry, principals in Bellevue were con-fronting many restrooms with overflow-ing toilets and running faucets, whichwere damaging district facilities and con-sistently inflating electric and gas bills.

One solution to these problems is toinstall battery-operated automaticflushers/sensors in every toilet in thedistrict and battery-operated automaticsensors in every restroom sink. The newflushers/sensors allow the toilet to flushone time and the sink sensors providean automatic flow of water and regu-late the amount of water consumptionduring hand washing.

Phase 3: WindowsThe third phase of the districtwideplan to improve energy efficiency wasto replace all outdated windows and

window frames with energy-efficientwindows throughout the district’s 25buildings.

Of the 25 buildings in the BellevuePublic School District, 15 were builtbefore 1984. All windows in each ofthe 15 older buildings were single-paneglass windows with wooden frames.Energy-efficient windows are generallydouble glazed, creating a barrier ofheat flow by conduction. They factor inair leakage and heat loss. The old win-dows and wooden frames that haddeteriorated or were out of square werecosting the district money and creatingunnecessary energy consumption.

Since 2001, 9 of the 25 buildings havebeen completely updated; all inefficient

windows and expiring window framesare scheduled to be replaced by 2016.

Champions for ChildrenThe Bellevue Public School District hasbeen able to stay ahead of the curve inenergy efficiency, thanks to some inno-vative thinking. In June 2010, theOmaha Public Power District awardedBellevue Public Schools its J. M.Harding Award of Excellence for effi-cient and innovative use of energy. It isthe second time in the past 13 years thatthe district has received the award.

Deegan, his staff, and the board ofeducation take the motto “Championsfor Children” seriously. While prepar-ing students for the future, they con-tinue to ensure that the Bellevue schoolfacilities are safe and efficient for thestudents and the community.

ResourcesMacDonald, C., and J. Provey. 2009.Window shopping: The latest in energyefficient windows. EnvironmentalMagazine, November–December, p. 38.

McGuire, A. 2009. Ground-source heatpumps: Keys to design, installation. HPACEngineering, September 1, pp. 32–35.

Watson, J. 2004. ADA primer for specify-ing flush valves. HPAC Engineering, July1, pp. 57–58.

Matt Blomenkamp is building andgrounds coordinator for BellevueNebraska Public Schools. Email:[email protected]

Bellevue Public Schools Welcome Center

Lied Activity Center


FACILITIES

The Law of CompetitiveBidding: A PrimerBy Charles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D.

One of the more complex areas thatschool business officials regularlyaddress is competitive bids forgoods and services, a well-settled

area of law controlled largely by state statutesand judicial interpretations.

Most states have statutes requiring all orspecified school contracts to be subject to competitive bidding. These laws usually obligeschool boards to award contracts to the “lowestresponsive and responsible bidder” or the “low-est and best bidder.”

A responsive bidder is considered one thatpromises to fulfill the requirements and specifi-cations outlined in the proposal. A responsiblebidder can actually fulfill the requirements.

When evaluating whether bids are respon-sive, school business officials might considersuch factors as financial standing, reputation,experience, ability, promptness, and work qual-ity. In H. V. Collins Co. v. Tarro (1997), theRhode Island Supreme Court held that a schoolcommittee did not act in bad faith, unreason-ably, or arbitrarily in awarding a contract to abidder who did not submit the lowest bid. Thecourt explained that the committee carefullyconsidered factors such as relative experienceof bidders, expertise, qualifications, and workquality in awarding the contract to the bidderit considered best because the criteria were sufficiently objective and measurable.

Disputes arise when school board officials areunable to evaluate “lowest responsive” or “low-est and best” responsive bids that conform tocontract specifications. Bidding laws typicallyrequire boards to provide due process to “unre-sponsive bidders”—bidders who do not respondto all the terms and conditions—but low biddershave minimal grounds to sue when they are notawarded a contract, since statutes are designedto protect taxpayers rather than safeguard therights of bidders (Laidlaw Transit v. AnchorageSchool District 2005; R. S. Noonan v. SchoolDistrict of City of York 1960).

Boards may include statements in bid noticesthat they reserve the right to reject all bids(Metropolitan School District of Martinsville v. Mason 1983). The Eighth Circuit affirmedthat a school board in Missouri could reject thelowest bidder since the board did not act arbi-trarily, capriciously, or based on impropermotives in Hanten v. School District of River -view Gardens (1999).

If boards reject all bids, they typically mustissue other bid notices to procure contractors orsuppliers (Painting & Decorating Contractorsof America v. Ellensburg School District 1982).

Bidding ConditionsBefore accepting bids, school boards expectthe parties to have the necessary paperworkin order. An appellate court in Louisianaapplied this principle where a board improp-erly accepted a bid from a firm that failed tosubmit the required corporate resolutionauthorizing the signing of the bid (StaffordConstruc tion Company v. Terrebonne ParishSchool Board 1990). The court found thatsince proof of the resolution was a necessaryprecondition for accepting the bid, the claimwas without merit.

If elements are absent from the lowest bid,courts generally agree that the bid may still beaccepted if the missing information is furnishedbefore the parties sign the contracts. For exam-ple, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmedthat a low bidder could correct a sealed bid ona $16 million construction project to add$613,000 for work on a roof since the schoolboard’s procurement rules forbade correctionsonly if the corrections allowed bidders to havethe low bids (Martin Engineering v. LexingtonCounty School District One 2005).

In recognizing that the bidder had the lowbid both before and after the correction andused the same bid amount from a roofing con-tractor as three competitors, the court rejectedthe unsuccessful bidder’s claim.


legaland legislative issues

Before accepting

bids, school boards

expect the parties to

have the necessary

paperwork in order.

Constitutional ConstraintsMinority set-asides have led to litiga-tion regarding bidding and contracts.In a relatively early case, the OhioSupreme Court affirmed that bids forpublic construction contracts can berequired to include written assurancesof employment nondiscrimination(Weiner v. Cuyahoga CommunityCollege District 1969). Subsequently,the Supreme Court reached mixedresults in specific situations.

In City of Richmond v. J. A. CrosonCompany (1989), the Supreme Courtstruck down a plan from Virginia to setaside at least 30% of the dollaramounts of city government contractsfor minority businesses. The SupremeCourt reasoned that the plan was inade-quately tailored to remedy the effects ofpast discrimination.

A year later, in a dispute fromWashington, D.C., the Supreme Courtupheld a preference policy for minorityownership of new radio or television sta-tions in Metro Broadcasting v. FederalCommunications Commission (1990) aslong as it had a substantial relationshipto an important congressional interest.

On the other hand, in AdarandContractors v. Pena (1995), a subcon-tracting firm in Colorado that wasdenied a contract for the guardrail por-tion of a federal highway project suc-cessfully challenged a program to offercontracts to disadvantaged businessenterprises. The Court invalidated theprogram since its use of race was insuf-ficiently narrowly tailored to achieve acompelling government interest.

At least three courts, the EighthCircuit (Hanten v. School District ofRiverview Gardens 1999), the AlaskaSupreme Court (Laborers Local No.942 v. Lampkin 1998), and an appel-late panel in Pennsylvania (Sossong v.Shaler Area School District 2008) haveruled that school boards can give pref-erence to union workers when hiringfor construction projects. The courtsrefused to interpret these provisions asviolating the free association rights ofnonunion members.

Mistaken BidsSometimes bidders make mistakes incalculations—mistakes that are uncov-

ered only after the bid has beenaccepted. Disputes can arise when suc-cessful bidders refuse to enter into con-tracts or to be bound by the terms oftheir agreements. The general rule ofcontract law is that individuals orboards cannot accept bids or offers ifthey knew, or reasonably should haveknown, that they were mistaken.

When a clerical error led a firm tobid more than 10% less than it shouldhave, company officials sought to with-draw the bid four days after it was

accepted. The Nebraska Supreme Courtaffirmed that the company could with-draw, since the only loss that the boardwould have suffered was the gain itsought to accrue by taking undueadvantage of the bidder (School Districtof Scottsbluff v. Olson ConstructionCo. 1950).

Bid WithdrawalIf bids are withdrawn properly, theyshould be cancelled, freeing the contrac-tors from contractual liability. When a


LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

bidder notified city officials that therewas a major clerical error in a bid onthe day bids were submitted andopened, school officials asked for, andpromptly received, the work sheetsrevealing the error. Three weeks later,the board awarded the contract to thebidder to construct a junior high schoolbased on the erroneous bid. Ultimately,New York’s highest court affirmed thatsince the bid was rescinded, the con-tract had to be cancelled (City ofSyracuse v. Sarkisian Brothers 1982).The court observed that since theamount of the error rendered enforce-ment of the contract unconscionable,the city could not enforce the bid.

If boards have set procedures govern-ing the withdrawal of mistaken bids,bidders must comply with those provi-sions. In a case highlighting this princi-ple, a dispute arose when a publicschool building authority had a rule per-mitting parties to withdraw bids if com-pany representatives personallyappeared with written requests beforethe opening of bids. The PennsylvaniaSupreme Court refused to allow a com-pany that had a bid that was muchlower than others to withdraw simplyby sending an unverified telegram(Modany v. State Public School BuildingAuthority 1965). The court assertedthat allowing the bidder to withdraw

without following the set procedurescould have led to fraudulent conductbetween bidders and public bodies.

Changing ContractsPursuant to the law of contracts, netherparty can avoid its contractual obliga-tions without mutual consent. Whileparties can agree to modify or amendtheir contracts, this rule is generallyinapplicable to board contracts undercompetitive-bidding laws. Even so, situ-ations may arise wherein the publicinterest may be best served by allowingboards and bidders to agree to limitedcontractual modifications.

Courts permit parties some flexibilityin modifying contracts if the changesare not so extensive as to amount toabandoning original agreements andentering into new ones.

Basic PointsIn sum, when dealing with competitive-bidding laws, school business officialsand other education leaders shouldkeep current on the status of the law intheir states. They can stay up-to-date by reading publications such as SchoolBusiness Affairs, attending ASBO Inter -na tional’s Annual Meeting and stateaffiliate meetings, and participating inuniversity-based or other ongoing pro-fessional development activities.

When preparing bid notices, review-ing bids, and drawing up contracts forsuccessful bidders, educators shouldwork closely with their attorneys toensure that they have satisfied state andfederal requirements. Of course, work-ing closely with lawyers cannot guaran-tee that school boards can avoid alllitigation, but doing so should helpensure success in the event that disap-pointed bidders or taxpayers file suit.

ReferencesAdarand Contractors v. Pena, 515 U.S.200 (1995).

City of Richmond v. J. A. CrosonCompany, 488 U.S. 469 (1989).

City of Syracuse v. Sarkisian Bros., 454N.Y.S.2d 71 (1982).

Hanten v. School Dist. of RiverviewGardens, 183 F.3d 799 (8th Cir. 1999).

H. V. Collins Co. v. Tarro, 696 A.2d 298(R.I. 1997).

Laborers Local No. 942 v. Lampkin, 956P.2d 422 (Alaska 1998).

Laidlaw Transit v. Anchorage School Dist.,118 P.3d 1018 (Alaska 2005).

Martin Engineering v. Lexington CountySchool Dist. One, 615 S.E.2d 110 (S.C.2005).

Metro Broadcasting v. Federal Communi -cations Commission, 497 U.S. 547 (1990).

Metropolitan School Dist. of Martinsvillev. Mason, 451 N.E.2d 349 (Ind. Ct. App.1983).

Modany v. State Pub. School Bldg. Auth.,208 A.2d 276 (Pa. 1965).

Painting & Decorating Contractors of Am.v. Ellensburg School Dist., 638 P.2d 1220(Wash. 1982).

R. S. Noonan v. School Dist. of City ofYork, 162 A.2d 623 (Pa. 1960).

School Dist. of Scottsbluff v. Olson Constr.Co., 45 N.W.2d 164 (Neb. 1950).

Sossong v. Shaler Area School Dist., 945A.2d 788 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2008), reargu-ment denied (2008).

Stafford Constr. Co. v. Terrebonne ParishSchool Bd., 560 So. 2d 558 (La. Ct. App.1990).

Weiner v. Cuyahoga Community CollegeDist., 249 N.E.2d 907 (Ohio 1969), cert.denied, 396 U.S. 1004 (1970).

Charles J. Russo, J.D., Ed.D., is PanzerChair in Education and adjunct professorof law at the University of Dayton, Ohio,and chair of ASBO’s Legal AspectsCommittee. Email: [email protected]


LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

Even when the economy is in a down-turn, you should still invest your mar-keting and sales dollars in an exhibitat a trade show—but you must invest

those dollars smartly. Managed correctly,trade shows are the most cost-effective meansof reaching your customers and prospects.

According to research, industrial sales callscost an average of $308 each, with the aver-age close of a sale taking place on the fourthsales call. Total investment (again average) isjust over $1,100 for each sale. Trade shows,on the other hand, cost about $212 per con-tact, with the average close occurring after1.6 sales calls—many with only a phone call.Total investment for each sale comes to $705each. That’s quite a savings.

The quality of trade show attendees is at anall-time high. More than 93% authorize,approve, or recommend the purchase of prod-ucts or services, and more than 70% hold pro-fessional and managerial positions withintheir companies.

This information is good, but unless youknow what to do with it, it’s meaningless. Thetrick is to turn your exhibit presence into solidresults for your company that mirror what theexperts have proved. The strategy is corporateand personnel education about what is possi-ble and how.

Keep LearningEffective exhibiting is a skill. Many boothstaffers resist ongoing professional develop-ment about successful exhibiting, stating thatthey’ve been doing shows for 20 years andhave nothing new to learn. However, just asselling techniques have changed, so haveexhibiting techniques.

Many sales, marketing, and technical per-sonnel work two trade shows a year. If youplayed a sport only twice a year, your skillswould be off, your timing rusty in the “offseason.” It’s the same with exhibiting. It’s notlike riding a bike. Even the pros practice

beforehand, reviewing objectives and role-playing so they can hone their tactics.

A fundamental understanding of exhibitingis critical, as is a corporate mentality that sup-ports the booth with personnel who can fillthe needs of attendees. Buyers use trade showsto comparison shop. They can narrow theirchoices to three of four companies and com-pare apples with apples on the show floor.That’s why technical representatives andproduct managers are as important in boothstaffing as salespeople. The buyer wants youto define those attributes that set you apartfrom the crowd. High-quality exhibit staffsupports those perceptions.

It’s Your CallOf course, if you think that a trade show is aparty, or just another way to say hello to yourregulars, and that you only need to set up abackdrop and look presentable, maybe youshouldn’t consider exhibiting during a reces-sion. It can be a big waste of money for yourcompany. The ball’s in your court.

Margit Weisgal, CME, is president and CEO ofthe Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA).

Why Exhibit in a Recession?By Margit Weisgal, CME

Managed correctly,

trade shows are the

most cost-effective

means of reaching

your customers and

prospects.

About TSEASince 1967, TSEA (www.tsea.org) has beenproviding knowledge to marketing and man-agement professionals who use exhibits, events,and face-to-face marketing to promote and selltheir products, as well as to those who supplythem with products and services. Membersbenefit from access to education, networking,resources, advocacy and member-only discountson products and services that all exhibit andevent professionals use. To register for anyTSEA education program at the member priceor to join TSEA and enjoy the benefits all yearat the discounted show rate, please use promocode: XYZ SHOW

corporatecorner


Spotlight on Amador V. Garza, RSBO: Roots in the Profession


To truly appreciate theachievements of AmadorGarza, construction man-

ager for South San AntonioIndependent School District,you need to understand his

background.Amador came to the United States

from Mexico when he was 9 years old. He was put intofirst grade and remained behind his peers academicallyuntil he left school at age 17 (when he was in eighthgrade) to join the Army. He later earned his GED andbachelor’s degree in applied arts and sciences, enteringthe school business profession as an HVAC mastertechnician in 1975 and working his way up to manage-ment and executive leadership positions.

Although he retired a couple of years ago, Amadorcan’t seem to shake his school business roots withinschool construction. He continues to assess school districts across Texas, offering advice on how theycan improve their construction programs. He currentlyoversees all construction projects for South San

Antonio Independent School District, a 17-school districtserving 12,000 students in an economically disadvan-taged area. The district is in the midst of dealing with a$58 million (much of it ARRA funds) bond issue thatinvolves tearing down and rebuilding the district’s solehigh school, all during the academic school year.

This won’t be the first time Amador has pulled offsuch a feat. Early in his tenure at North East, a 65,000-student school district, Amador spearheaded efforts totear down an elementary school and rebuild it on thesame site in a nine-month period. He explains that thedistrict rented an unused building to serve as theschool during the construction period. It took a meresix weeks to convert the building into a temporary yetadequate elementary school that complied with allbuilding codes. Using in-house staff to complete thejob allowed for better control and saved the district alot of money.

“I’m very happy that I took the first step to go intoschool business,” Amador says. “It’s a great career withlots of opportunities, and I have made lifelong friendsalong the way.”

Tyler Technologies has the insight to empower

you as a K-12 education professional. Our

financial, SIS, transportation, special education

and district planning products do more than

meet your needs. They anticipate them.

That’s why more and more school systems

choose Tyler for their data management. To

spend more time with your students and less

time with data, visit us at tylertech.com or

email us at [email protected].

Our insight. Your schools.

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