The Facilities Data Reset: Five Questions Every District Should Ask Before the Next Budget Cycle

In a recent conference for public school administrators, I took the opportunity to meet with school facility directors from across the country and ask them pointed questions about how they developed their facilities capital plan. The answers ranged from complex and detailed processes that included stakeholder input and facilities planning software to simple excel sheets and formulas that the superintendent would review every other year.

Regardless of how you create, review, or adjust your capital plan, all successful facilities capital plans start with a foundation of accurate data. Too often, districts begin planning from historical budgets, anecdotal knowledge from long-time employees, or outdated records.

In the current educational environment, resources are scarce. Accurate data is a necessity to justify the projects that a district plans to undertake. More importantly, district leadership needs information to clearly communicate the significance of urgent projects and how they rank in importance when compared to other district priorities. For some stakeholders, buying books can be a much higher priority than fixing a closed loop chiller system if they are unfamiliar with how the system operates. Most stakeholders won’t understand the value of the repairs until the cooling system fails in the middle of the summer.

The first thing district leaders should do, before setting a budget, is commit to answering the following five questions:

---

Question 1: Do we know exactly what assets we have and their condition?

For many districts, the answer is more complicated than yes or no.

A district-wide asset review is a significant undertaking. A district-wide audit should establish what assets exist, where they are located, their age, condition, remaining useful life, maintenance history, and estimated replacement cost.

In a large school district this process can take months and be a significant investment. In my district we audited 42 campuses and 4 operations buildings over the course of 4 months. The process involved a significant amount of training to read the data and hours of data review. However, the resulting facility index was an invaluable tool as I created our capital master plan.

Having a comprehensive facilities index changes a district from being reactive to proactive.

---

Question 2: Can staff quickly find the location, condition, and history of an asset?

Once you have identified all the assets across your district, the next priority is to ensure that they are accessible to the maintenance staff. Maintenance teams should be able to update the index information and service history as they complete work orders or preventative maintenance tasks.

If an air handler fails tomorrow, how long would it take to answer these questions?

• Where is it?
• What model is it?
• How old is it?
• When was it last serviced?
• What parts have been replaced?
• Has it failed before?
• Is it under warranty?

If finding the answers to these questions requires calling multiple people, searching through old spreadsheets, looking through paper files, or relying on the memory of a technician who has worked in the district for 25 years, the district has a data problem.

A strong facilities capital plan is based on a centralized source of data where asset information, work history, inspections, photographs, warranties, and replacement recommendations can be accessed by both the technicians and the district leaders.

---

Questions 3: Do we know which problems are urgent and which can wait?

Every district has more facilities than it has money to address them. All facilities have problems that need to be addressed. Identifying the problems that rank as urgent or highest priority can be difficult even with a facilities index. Without accurate asset data, the task is almost impossible.

Too often, priority is determined by whoever is making the most noise. A leaking roof gets attention because water is coming through the ceiling. A failed air conditioner gets attention because classrooms are uncomfortable. A broken restroom gets attention because someone is calling the maintenance department repeatedly.

Those issues deserve immediate attention. But facilities leaders also need to identify the problems that are less visible and potentially more consequential. Basing decisions off of accurate data allows the district to distinguish between urgent work and important work. That distinction is critical when resources are limited.

---

Question 4: Are we spending money at the right time?

A district can spend a tremendous amount of money maintaining its facilities and still be operating inefficiently. The key question is whether the district is primarily reacting to failures or managing asset lifecycles. The difference cannot be overstated.

For example, a district can replace a failed rooftop unit during the hottest week of the school year, or they can plan to replace that unit two years before its expected failure. The first is an unexpected expense in the face of an emergency. The second is an asset-management decision that shows foresight and planning.

Reliable facilities data allows leaders to look beyond this year’s repair budget and begin thinking in terms of lifecycle cost. Sometimes the cheapest option today is the most expensive option over five or ten years. A district needs to know when continued repairs make sense, when replacing an asset makes sense, and when a capital investment can prevent significantly higher operational costs later.

---

Question 5: Can we justify our facilities priorities with reliable data?

This might be the most important question that a district leader will face. Being able to identify specific assets and describe their current or projected usefulness can be a valuable tool for a district leader that is trying to persuade a board to make significant capital investments. Having the data to show the foundation for decision making has proven to be extremely persuasive when making recommendations.

---

The Facilities Data Reset

The next budget cycle is an opportunity for districts to do more than create another list of projects. It is an opportunity for district leaders to create and share a powerful, data driven narrative. As leaders work to form a narrative, they should ensure that the data collection answers the five fundamental questions:

• Do we know exactly what assets we have and their condition?
• Can staff quickly find the location, condition, and history of an asset?
• Do we know which problems are urgent and which can wait?
• Are we spending money at the right time?
• Can we justify our facilities priorities with reliable data?

Answering these questions will allow you to set goals and set a foundation for making better decisions.