Page 7 - School Planning & Management, April/May 2019

SPECIFIER’S
REPORT
OUTFITTING 21ST-CENTURY EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
Here’s what administrators have to say about specifying products that best serve the needs of the school or district.
By Ellen Kollie
WHEN IT COMES TO PRODUCT SPECIFYING and the subsequent purchasing process, the number- one thing to know is that one size does not fit all. Rather, the process varies from district to district and state to state, depending on district size, board policy, state requirements, and federal requirements.
District size: Small school districts may not have a pur- chasing department. Instead, purchasing may be one of many hats that different administrators wear, such as the facili-
ties department ordering replacement HVAC units and the technology services department ordering new printers. And purchasing procedures may be less formal than in large dis- tricts, which may have structured purchasing departments in which agents review requests to ensure that they meet policies, the budget is available, and all the paperwork is in order.
The bottom line, as David Bein, SFO, assistant superinten- dent of Business Services/CSBO for Barrington Community Unit School District (CUSD) 220
in Illinois, notes is that, “Even in any
given state, districts of comparable size may do many things similarly, but some things may be different. Not every school district does things the same.” The suburban Chicago district, which has nearly 9,000 students in grades Prek-12, has an annual operat- ing budget of $165 million.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HEERY INTERNATIONAL
Board policy: “School boards adopt policies to govern
the administration of the district, and that’s followed with administrative procedures to implement board policy,” says Bein. One chunk of board policy focuses on product speci- fication and purchasing, including when quotes are required and when the board must approve a purchase, which varies from board to board. As the Ohio School Boards Association (www.ohioschoolboards.org) states, “Board policies may require obtaining quotes for some ... purchases even though the law does not require competitive bidding.”
Kristofer Upson, PE, MBA, executive director of Opera- tions for Salina USD 305 in Kansas, explains how it’s done in his district: “Our board gets to see purchases made between $10,000 and $20,000. They don’t approve them, but they
see them. Anything over $20,000 has to have board approval and, generally speaking, it has to be bid out, unless we use
a blanket purchase agreement.” With an annual operating
PHOTO COURTESY OF J+J FLOORING
budget of $141 million and 7,000 students, Salina USD 305 is the 10th largest in the state.
In the spirit of transparency and open communication, Matthew Helgerson, superintendent of Jordan Public Schools in Minnesota, seeks board approval for things that are not part of the normal day-to-day operations, regardless of the dollar
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