Financial & Procurement Efficiency

One of a handful of school districts in Texas with the highest bond ratings (AA1, AA+, AA), saving millions

Only school district with a Commercial Paper Program that has allowed the district to save millions in borrowing costs

Good ROI-Austin outperforms national counterparts (NAEP) despite lower per pupil spend.

Transitioning from being fully-insured to becoming self insured for health benefits will save the district nearly $3M-$4M next year

Has implemented several findings from Board commissioned Efficiency Study

Developed city-wide collaboratives to mobilize “shared resources” to effectively serve children

Realized substantial savings from purchasing co-ops and initiating strategic sourcing initiative

Automation and document management on horizon to bring even more savings (eliminating check printing, biometric time entry, Medicaid cost recovery)

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Energy Efficiency

Current Strategies:– Green building principles in construction of

new schools and additions Day lighting Exceeding energy codes for building envelope

and lighting Reflective roofing Commissioning of HVAC systems

– Building water use reduction Water-conservation plumbing Re-irrigation systems

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Energy Efficiency

Current Strategies (continued):– Energy-saving HVAC systems– Lighting retrofits– Use of renewable energy sources when cost effective

Approximately 40% of District’s energy needs is generated from biogas and wind

AISD ranks as the number one school district in the nation in terms of the total amount of renewable energy purchased-65,640,000 kWh

District has saved $437,283 through the purchase of renewable energy

Eleven AISD schools have solar arrays 21 more AISD schools to receive solar arrays through a

Department of Energy grant

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Energy Efficiency

Proposed Efficiencies:– Campus energy-use reduction

Change set points to one or two hours earlier during weekdays

Consolidate summer programming to reduce occupied space

Eliminate use of air-conditioning in unoccupied sections of buildings during the summer

Turn off exterior lights at schools between 10 PM and 4 AM

– Replace parking lot lights with LED lights

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Energy Efficiency

Proposed Efficiencies (continued):– Building occupant energy-use reduction

Turn off lights in corridors during daylight hours Create checklist for custodial staff to turn off

equipment at night (lights, pumps, exhaust fans)

Use compact fluorescent lights in task lamps Engage students in energy conservation efforts

e.g. Watt Watchers Program from State Energy Conservation Office of Texas

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Maintenance Efficiency

Current Strategies:– Use of native, drought-resistant plants– Has the largest commercial mower fleet in the state

powered by liquid propane gas– Use of Green Housekeeping products– Use of geographic zoning for more efficient time

management and fuel usage reduction– Has begun:

use of laptops with wireless capability to access web-based work order system

installation of GPS units on some service vehicles Proposed Efficiencies:

– Install GPS units on all service vehicles– Centralize custodial staff management– Establish a satellite maintenance location

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Transportation Efficiency

Background Information– Fleet comprised of 500 buses– Average age of fleet is 5.3 years– 77% of fleet is comprised of low emission

buses– Grant through Railroad Commission to assist

in the purchase six propane buses – AISD owns the only plug-in hybrid school bus

in Texas

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Transportation Efficiency

Current Strategies:– GPS units on 360 buses– ‘Trapeze Mapnet’ is a routing application that

enables the department to efficiently create and analyze school bus routes

– ‘Bus Stop Finder’ accommodates public access to bus stop information on the AISD internet home page

– ‘TOM Field Trip’ enables the department to assign field trips to drivers efficiently and fairly by: Looking at hours worked by drivers Looking at driver route schedules Exporting billing into District accounting software

– ‘TOM WebTrips’ enables schools to electronically submit field trip requests to the department

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Transportation Efficiency

Current Strategies (continued):– ‘VersaTrans FleetVision’ allows department

to record and plan fleet maintenance– ‘Kronos Timekeeper’ records employee hours– ‘ESRI’ helps maintain accurate mapping– ‘Trapeze MapNet Web’ allows designated

school personnel: To access bus route information To access student bus assignment To print temporary bus passes

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Transportation Efficiency

Current Strategies (continued):– AISD Management Information Systems has

developed the following applications: ‘Trans Tutorial’ is database application that allows

electronic submission of after school tutorial buses ‘DEEDS’ allows staff to enter and monitor school

bus discipline referrals ‘TransWeb FTP’ is a secure ftp site used for the

distribution of video of school bus incidents recorded by digital camera

‘Accident Database’ is an application that allows electronic submission of all accidents to the District’s insurance provider

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Transportation Efficiency

Proposed Efficiencies:– Eliminate late start for high schools– Require uniform start and dismissal times for

all schools to increase route efficiency– Develop hub plan for magnet and special

schools transportation– Evaluate after-school activity programming

to determine if reductions possible– Explore additional efficiencies by locating

appropriate special education programming close to students’ homes

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Technology Efficiency

Current Strategies:– Replace desktops with laptops– Deploy mobile labs using laptops instead of fixed

computer labs– Require energy efficiency in all hardware

acquisitions– Implement virtual servers to reduce hardware and

cooling requirements in data centers– Implement smart power management of servers

Proposed Efficiencies:– Software to automatically turn off computers– Software to allow for remote installation and

troubleshooting

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Food Services Efficiency

Current Strategies:– Purchasing from local sources– Purchasing energy-saving appliances– Using School Messenger system to notify

parents about meal benefits and accounts– Offering parents the option of pre-paying on-

line for student meals

Proposed Efficiencies:– Software to automatically turn off computers– Software to allow for remote installation and

troubleshooting

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School Districts Don’t Produce Widgets: Efficiency Limitations

Known Inefficiencies:– Building Underutilization– Class Size– Ineffective Programming

Barriers to Efficiency:– Legal Requirements– Public Trust– Traditions/History– Moral Courage/Political Will

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