A new computerized work-order system that will speed the completion of repairs in Cincinnati Public Schools’ buildings is one part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade the care of the district’s buildings.

Building maintenance will be an integral part of CPS’ Facilities Master Plan, which will rebuild and fully modernize the district’s aging fleet of buildings over the next 10 years. The state, which partners with CPS on the master plan, requires that money be set aside starting now to keep the fixed-up schools in shape in the future.

The new interactive, computerized system to more efficiently handle repair requests from schools and offices should be in place by the start of the 2003-04 school year, said Mike Burson, CPS’ Facilities Director. The new work-order system also automatically will schedule preventive-maintenance work to keep equipment running well, Burson said.

With the new system, work orders can be sent directly to the technician in the field via either handheld or laptop computers. Technicians will be able to access information about machinery or equipment — such as the details of a furnace’s service warranty — find out quickly the availability of parts and submit data back to a foreman.

Under the antiquated current system in a Facilities Department Burson describes as lean, about 73 percent of the 15,175 work orders received in 2002 were completed that year.

"Now it’s very frustrating on both ends. We understand that schools feel like work orders go into a black hole. We’re hoping to fix that. The new system will make it easier to file a work order and will help speed up the entire process."

Mike Burson
CPS Facilities Director

Burson’s Facilities Department faces challenges as the Facilities Master Plan begins this year with construction of two schools and, over the next decade, the construction of 33 more schools and the renovation of 31 others. Among the challenges is the added work of maintaining current buildings plus the new ones during several years of overlap. Maintenance responsibilities will peak in 2011 at 8.2 million square feet of buildings needing attention (up from 7.5 million square feet in 2004), Burson said.

In a maintenance plan going to the CPS Board February 24, CPS officials will commit to spend $77.8 million over the next 11 years for maintenance on buildings constructed or renovated within the Facilities Master Plan. The plan also requires the district to spend $65.6 million to maintain current buildings over the next 11 years.

The commitment to maintenance is required for the district to receive $210 million in state money for construction and renovation through the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC), the agency in charge of a statewide school-building campaign of which CPS’ plan is a part. The OSFC requires districts to continue to commit money for maintenance for 23 years after the last new or renovated building is completed.

The OSFC approved CPS’ maintenance plan at its meeting on February 27, 2003.

The Board also committed one mill, or $6 million a year, of the November 2000 operating levy solely to building maintenance. The current maintenance budget is $11.5 million — up from $4.7 million in 1996-97 — and is projected to grow to $13.6 million by 2014.