The Dearborn Public Schools System is overstaffed, has more administrator positions than it needs and pays more per mile to bus students than similarly sized schools in Michigan, according to the results of a four-month benchmarking study released Tuesday by the school district. 

The study, however, also points out that across most cost categories, Dearborn’s costs as a percentage of expenditures are less than the overall average for other similarly sized districts used in the study. 

(For full copy of study click here:  dearborn-benchmarking-study)

 

Dearborn Schools Benchmarking Study

While the findings in the report may be uncomfortable for some to read, Whiston deserves credit for requesting it as a way to cut costs and improve efficiencies in our school district, which is facing a $10.5 million deficit for the 2009-10 school year. 

The idea of having a third party come into the district for four months and study key areas of the Dearborn School District will help our school administrators more quickly identify the district’s successes along with the areas that need work and determine ways to improve them. School officials tell DeepSaidWhat.com that the next step for the district will be to examine what can be done to improve the areas identified in the report or determine if the reported costs are due to other factors not captured in the study. There were some anomalies in the raw data and the district says that could be attributed to how the numbers were reported

“This is only phase one in the process,” Whiston said. “The next phase will be to find out why the numbers look the way they do and, if needed, how can the district make improvements. The report has provided us with good information that will allow the district to make the types of changes needed to cut costs, improve efficiencies and implement a better reporting system.”

The study cost the district about $40,000, an amount some may question. However, when you consider the potential hundreds of thousands the district can save by implementing some of the recommendations, then long term it would be money well spent.

The benchmarking study, which covered the 2005/06 and 2006/07 school years, identified four areas for the district to consider to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. The areas included District Cost Metrics, Staffing Levels, Administrator and Professional Staffing Levels and Operational Metrics — Facilities & Transportation.

Plante Moran gathered information from eight districts, including: Farmingtion, Wayne-Westland, Rochester, Chippewa Valley, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, Flint City School District, Ann Arbor Public Schools and Plymouth Canton Community Schools. It should be noted that of the districts mentioned above, Dearborn has the most students, more than 18,000. The only other districts that were close are Rochester (14,700 students) and Walled Lake (15,700).

The overall observations from the study show that for staffing levels, Dearborn is “higher than the average of the eight districts that participated in the survey.” The same was true for the Administrator and Professional Staffing Levels.

On the Transportation, the study revealed that Dearborn cost per mile for regular education was higher than similarly sized Oakland County districts. Dearborn paid $6.13 per mile in the 2006/07 year compared to $5.41 for comparable districts and its cost per rider was $1,033 compared to $675 for other districts.  

Those high figures are likely a direct result of Dearborn’s low bus ridership levels, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as the Dearborn district was set up in the beginning as a walk-to-school district. There were few, if any buses, in the district in the 1980s.  Today, just 17 percent of Dearborn’s regular education students are bused, which is low compared to Oakland County, which ranged from a minimum of 46 percent up to 80 percent in 2006/07, according to the report. But, again, Dearborn has always prided itself on having neighborhood schools, something this report doesn’t capture.

Dearborn’s Facilities costs (including custodial and maintenance) also were higher than average. While Dearborn’s electricity costs were comparable to other participating districts, Dearborn’s natural gas costs were much higher on both a per student basis (about $140 for Dearborn vs. $65 for other districts) and a square footage basis ($0.80 cents for Dearborn vs. $0.39 cents for other districts). 

The report also indicated that Dearborn’s number of full-time custodial and maintenance positions is higher than the overall median number reported by other districts. 

Supt. Whiston made it clear from the beginning that the study is by no means a way for the district to begin privatizing services. Instead, he said the study will be used to further investigate how the district can save money and resources.

The recommendations for the District to consider to reduce costs and increase efficiencies include: 

District Cost Metrics: The study recommended the district investigate ways to reduce its natural gas costs, which were higher than similarly sized Oakland County districts.

Staffing Levels (compared to similarly sized Michigan districts):  The study recommended the district perform a detailed organizational assessment of staffing requirements in areas with potential for improvement, including non-classroom teachers, secretarial/clerical staff at the buildings.

Administrator and Professional Staffing Levels (compared to national benchmarks): The study recommended the district perform a detailed organizational assessment of staffing requirements in areas with potential for improvement, such as Central Office, Special Education and Technology.

Operational Metrics — Facilities & Transportation:On the facility side, the study recommended the district consider conducting an operational/organizational study to find ways to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. While on the transportation side, the study recommended an operational analysis of transportation to determine cost-savings that might be achieved using either smaller, more fuel-efficient buses or eliminating some routes altogether.

Generating this report was a good first step for Dearborn. But now comes the hard part, trying to implement the recommendations outlined in it.