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Boston Public Schools

Operational Review
April 2015
PRE-DECISIONAL PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL
Any use of this material without specific permission is strictly prohibited

Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

This report was done as part of a review at the request of

the Mayors office in collaboration with the district. Findings are
preliminary and indicate potential options for leadership consideration
What this work IS

What this work IS NOT

Exploration of potential options to

improve student achievement, lower
district costs and drive operational
efficiency

These are not recommendations

Further analysis is required to

identify specific opportunities and
to implement

Public conversations about

Estimates of ranges of savings to

identify magnitude of savings from
various options

tradeoffs required for many

options

Strategic process to weigh costs

Collaborative idea generation and

discussion with district to bring
insights to light

and benefits of options would be

needed to transform to
recommendations

Exact analysis to predict how much

money the district will save

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

The core focus of this review is on student outcomes in

pursuing improved operational effectiveness and reduced costs, all while
engaging and considering the needs of a broad range of stakeholders
Multiple considerations are essential

Ultimately, improved student outcomes is the

Cost
effectiveness

Student
outcomes

Operational
effectiveness

goal of any effort to reduce cost and inefficiency

and reallocate those funds where they can do
more for students
Beyond students, considering the impact on
teachers, parents, and other stakeholders is
critical to identifying the most beneficial and
feasible improvements

Stakeholder
engagement

Opportunities for BPS have been prioritized

while keeping all of these factors in mind

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

Glossary of terms
Term

Definition

English Language Learner (ELL)

Students whose native tongue is not English and have not achieved fluency
in English appropriate with their grade level

Students with Disabilities (SWD)

Students who have been formally evaluated by BPS and have been found to
have a disability that requires additional resources to meet the student need,
beyond a traditional general education setting

Inclusion

Inclusion classrooms are classrooms that support a mix of the general

education and special education populations and is research proven to be a
better approach to special education for the entire student population

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

When a student is classified as needing Special Education, an IEP is

designed by the school team to meet that students needs

Occupational Therapy / Physical Therapy

(OTPT)

OT is individualized support for students to help them acquire basic skills for
daily living (e.g., self-grooming, self-feeding, self-dressing); PT is
individualized support for developing motor skills (e.g., walking, jumping,
lifting)

Food and Nutrition Services (FNS)

FNS is the department responsible for delivering food to all BPS students

Office of Instructional and Information

Technology (OIIT)

OIIT is the BPS department responsible for delivering the technological

services and hardware to the employees and the students of the district

Pull-out vs. push-in

Current special education practices in BPS require the pulling out of

students from general education settings to receive additional resources; a
push in method leaves the student in the general education classroom,
while ensuring that the resources meet her/him where they are
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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

Executive summary
BPS is a highly diverse public school system, with demographics much different from the
city of Boston and SWD and ELL populations that outpace state and national averages

While BPS pushes 55% of its funds to the schools, only 36% reaches all students in the
classroom1; BPS has a significant number of underutilized buildings and classrooms,
spreading funds thin across the system and lessening the impact of resources on a per pupil
basis

After a broad scan, the Steering Committee focused the work against four potential areas of
opportunity
1)

To concentrate resources more effectively for students, BPS can find ways to right-size
the district to reflect current and projected BPS enrollment

2)

Over a quarter of the BPS budget goes towards Special Education, meaning that small
potential changes in student classification can translate to large BPS savings and
better learning environments for students. A move towards inclusion, currently
underway, has a 12-year horizon that if executed well will improve special education
student outcomes and lead to substantial cost savings

3)

As BPS transitions to a new superintendent and potentially addresses overextension

issues, the BPS central office will have an opportunity to address some of the
misaligned parts of the organization, driving performance and

4)

potentially capturing operational efficiencies in other areas like transportation, food

services and maintenance

1 BPS FY15 General funds

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

BPS per pupil spend is higher than peer averages. 36% of that
spend gets to all students in the classroom

FOR DISCUSSION

Per pupil spending

$, per student
BPS per pupil spend
is 11% higher than the
peer average of
$15,7552

17,455
1,100

1,276

2,191

976

$3,351 of the per pupil spend, or 19%

is the foundation of each school
These funds are spread across all 128
schools

3,480

3/4
~14% of per pupil
dollars are going to
central office and
supports for schools
funded centrally

Total1

Central
office

Supports
for schools
funded
centrally

Benefits

1,031
1,105

2
20% of per
pupil dollars
are directly for
SPED students

1,712

TransSPED
Bilingual Buildings Schoolportation (including
level
transportation)
support

534

4,051

Adminis- General
trators
education
classrooms

1 This excludes out of district tuition dollars, as those students are being educated outside of district, and grants
2 Boston is more in-line when Cost of Living adjustments are made, or only compared to Northeastern cities, but still trends high
Source: BPS FY15 General funds

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

BPS Potential Opportunities

1
Opportunity to
consolidate
~30-50 schools
~$51-85m/yr plus
~$120-200m
one-time

2
Opportunity to
speed SPED
reforms
~$17-21M in
FY161 and ~$63M
longer-term
annually

Opportunity to
reorganize central
office and nonteaching staff
Up to ~$27M ongoing
reduction

4
Opportunities to
improve
operations
~$10-33m/yr

Key facts
BPS enrollment down 17% over last 20 years and 50% since 1970s
BPS currently has ~93K total physical seats with only ~54K seats filled
The system is overextended with declining dollars stretched over the same number of buildings and declining student
count
Consolidating 30-50 schools could reduce annual spend by ~$51-85M
Building sales could bring additional one-time ~$120-200M, while avoiding additional, unneeded CapEx or could
generate substantial ongoing income from leasing redundant properties
Right-sized system would concentrate more dollars in fewer schools, improving quality and breadth of student resources

Moving Boston in-line with state and national averages can help improve student outcomes and translates to ~$5M
saved for every % point decline

Outsourcing paras and specialists can reap immediate savings of $15-$20M,but requires discussions with

stakeholders
The move to inclusion, already underway, can potentially serve BPS students significantly better, but comes with
substantial upfront investments whose financial benefits will not begin coming until 4 years out
There is an opportunity to think about inclusion sequencing to get benefits faster and reduce net investments

Non-teaching staff to student ratios across the system are higher than peers and historic BPS levels, up to
$27M may be possible if staff levels realigned

Superintendent has 13 direct reports, making system goal-setting, alignment and focus difficult
System goals are not tracked systematically, with a deep need for performance management systems to align central
metrics that matter (e.g., number of students eating lunch, buses on time) with student outcomes and manage staff
and system performance better

BPS bus riders average a 0.16 mile walk to their bus stop, 59% of students walk less than a 0.25 mile
Moving the target walk to a 0.25 miles walk would reduce bus stops and could save ~$6-20M, but requires
discussions with stakeholders

Moving to district-wide maintenance contract would align incentives with contractor and could save ~$5M in annual
maintenance costs

BPS is currently spending more per pupil on contracted meals, which student taste tests view as lower quality, and
can improve participation, changes in delivery and participation could capture ~$2-8M

Immediate opportunities for savings in FY16 total ~$20-40m if real focus is brought to opportunity areas
With bold decisions and focus, savings could total ~$150-200M / yr, with additional one-time benefits
1 While FY16 budget has been approved, FY16 opportunities could still be pursued

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 Since 1994, BPS student population has declined 17%, but the
number of schools has remained relatively constant
Schools vs. student population
# of school programs, # BPS students
66,000

150

64,000
62,000

100
60,000
58,000

50

56,000

54,000
0

BPS may be
able to reduce
its footprint
based on the
large difference
between its
enrollment and its
capacity

Projections
suggest no
additional space
will be needed in
the future

1994 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 2015

With students decreasing, the funding for each student must continue
to cover the systems fixed costs including the buildings but also the
principals and school staff which are present at each location
Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education; Internal interviews; BPS data

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 The current 128 schools have enough physical seats to hold over

90,000 students, though BPS decisions on class size limits reduce

the usable capacity below this figure
School capacities
Number of physical seats
4,000

This includes
the total count
of classroom
seats, without
counting
resource rooms

The average
school has 715
seats

The total
capacity is
92,950

3,500
3,000

2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500

715

0
NOTE: This reflects all schools, including BPS charters
METHODOLOGY: Rooms and expected student capacities per room were counted by the facilities team.
Source: BPS Facilities data (2011)

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 The extra seats are mostly well distributed across the district
with an average of 68% utilization
School facility capacity utilization1
Percent of seats filled
0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

Half of the
schools are
under 2/3rds
utilized

Some schools
are being very
overutilized
based on
Facilities
assessment of
available seats

68%
1 Utilization calculated based on the number of students enrolled in a building vs. the theoretical capacity of the building which does
not take into account BPS approach to student teacher-ratio or the use of resource classrooms; this reflects all schools, including
BPS charters
Source: BPS Facilities data (2011)

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 Declining enrollment coupled with a stable footprint drives a

lower student-teacher ratio than peers
While BPS has set
Average student-teacher ratio1
Ratio of total students to total teachers
Cambridge
Newark
Boston
Winthrop
DC
Atlanta
Revere
Cleveland
Chelsea
Wichita
Omaha
Columbus
Tulsa
Oklahoma City
Tucson
San Francisco
Oakland
LA
Sacramento

limits that would

allow class sizes to
range from 22-31
students, BPS
operates with ~12
students in a classroom; most peer
districts operate with
more

11.0
11.3
11.6
13.1
13.3
13.4
13.6
13.9
14.4
15.6
16.3
17.0
17.0
17.3
18.8
19.8
21.8
23.5

If BPS were to meet

peer average, they
would carry ~1,300
fewer teachers, at a
potential savings
of ~$90-110M

Any staffing changes

26.3

Peer avg. 16.3

would need to be
considered vis-vis student
interests

1 These numbers include all students (e.g., SPED, ELL) across the peer set, so figures are comparable; BPS Facts At a Glance reports an average class size of
17.7 in general education, which is below state average of 18.8 and the contractually agreed to sizes ranging from 22 in PK-2 to 31 in grades 10-12

Source: NCES Common Core of Data; BPS Facts at a glance

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

The non-staff savings would likely be consistent with what

other systems have experienced

Four other school districts that consolidated schools

saw an average saving of $580K per school per year

Other
districts

Milwaukee: $330K per school per year with 20

closures

Washington D.C.: $726K per school per year with 23

closures

Pittsburgh: $668K per school per year with 22

closures

Detroit: $593K per school per year with 59 closures

Pews research into savings found, How much

money is saved by closing schools depends in
part on the degree to which closings are
accompanied by job reductions1
1 Closing Public Schools in Philadelphia - Lessons from Six Urban Districts, the Philadelphia Research Initiative, PEW Charitable Trusts, October
19, 2011, page 6
Source: Closing Public Schools in Philadelphia - Lessons from Six Urban Districts, the Philadelphia Research Initiative, PEW Charitable Trusts,
October 19, 2011

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 Consolidation could allow BPS to redirect ~$1.7M per school

before property sales
Description

Prior cost

With fewer classrooms, BPS could

Consolidate
classroom staff

Foundation
for school staff
Average
custodial
support
Average
building
maintenance
Average
utilities

$3.8m

Expected
cost after
closing
~$2.3-2.8m

Potential
savings after
closing
~$1.0-1.5m

commensurately reduce teaching staff

The average teacher student ratio goes
from 1:12 to 1:13 or 1:16

The foundation money2 is no longer

$200k

~$0

~$200k

$166k

~$50k

~$116k

$191k

~$57k

~$134k

$260k

~$0

~$260k

needed by the school

Custodial support is no longer required at

the building but may increase by
receiving schools

30%1

at

Maintenance is no longer required but may

increase by

30%1

at receiving schools

The closed buildings no longer needs to

spend on utilities (including electric, gas,
water, and telecom)

Total

~$1.7- 2.2m

1 Assumed based on interviews

2 "Foundation" money refers to the budget allocation that each school automatically receives for basic infrastructure/operation(e.g., to cover principal costs)

Source: BPS Office of Finance; interviews

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 While the new funds will not be easy to unlock, they can help
bring the promise of a better future for BPS
Potential areas that could be funded

~$51-85M in run-rate savings

garnered from closing 30 50
schools

~$120M in one-time cash from

property sales of 30 50 schools

Expanded before- and after-school

programming for students in all
schools

Guaranteed set of electives or

specials at all schools (e.g.,
Physical Education, Art)

Greater portfolio of teacher

supports and resources (e.g.,
instructional coaches, first-year
mentors, counselors)

Funds to build 1 state-of-the-art

high school (~$30M) and 9 state-ofthe-art lower schools (~$10M each)

This illustrates potential areas that could be funded through realized savings.
The actual use of any funds saved would be decided in the same manner in
which budgets are developed and funds are allocated today.
Source: BPS data

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

1 Additionally, BPS could recognize many other positive gains

from consolidating schools
Potential gain
True neighborhood
schools
Closure of lowestperforming schools
Better targeting for
Central Office support
Reduction in
transportation complexity
Avoidance of building
maintenance expenditures

Revenues from property

sales

Description

Parents, as evidenced in focus groups, highly value

students remaining with the same neighborhood-based
class throughout years of schooling
The district could move students from Level 4 and Level
5 to higher performing schools, raising academic
achievement in the district
By closing schools, the Central Office would have fewer
schools to cover with supports, helping prevent its
resources from being stretched too thin
If school consolidations follow the neighborhood scheme,
it would further reduce the need for transportation
services in the district
With up to $600M in deferred maintenance on the books,
closing schools could avoid this costly expenditure, while
also halting altogether potential investments that would
otherwise be planned for existing buildings
Many closed school buildings could go towards City
needs or be sold in areas where value is high
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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

2 SPED is ~25% of the BPS spend and 73% of its costs are in 3
areas: classroom staff, transportation and private placements
Total spending $ 265m

24% of BPS budget

School
level

Central $ 136m (51%)

As the biggest
three areas in the
biggest part of the
BPS budget, these
areas are 18% of
total BPS budget

Transportation Private placement tuition

$ 49m

$ 37m

Specialists
(e.g., OTPT,
autism)
$ 24m

Source: BPS 2014 all funds drill down, actual expenses

Sub/sep
teacher

Sub/sep
aides

$ 64m

$ 23m

Admin. &
superadvisory
$ 13m

Resource
teacher

Compliance
program
support

$ 21m

$ 12m

$ 129m (49%)

Other labor Misc. equipsupports (ad- ment and

ministrators, supports
clerks, etc.)
$ 6m

$ 3m

Compliance Insurance
Misc. expenses
(e.g., equipment,
inclusion, itinerant support)
$ 9m

$ 2m

$ 2m

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

2 BPS schools are classifying students at widely variable rates

Rates of SPED classifications among referred population, by school, SY 14-15
% of students referred for testing who were classified as SWD, by school
Henderson K-4
Roosevelt K-8 (K1-1)
Baldwin E.L. Pilot Acad
Mendell Elementary
Tobin K-8
BTU K-8 Pilot
Beethoven Elementary
East Boston EEC
Kenny Elementary
Mario Umana Academy
Irving Middle
Mission Hill K-8
Margarita Muniz Academy
Boston Day/Evening Acad
Guild Elementary
ODonnell Elementary
Channing Elementary
Bates Elementary
Winthrop Elementary
Perkins Elementary
Winship Elementary
Hennigan
Kennedy John F Elemen
Mattahunt Elementary
Conley Elementary
Hurley K-8
Gardner Pilot Academy
Lyon High
Dearborn
East Boston High
UP Academy Dorchester
Everett Elementary
Chittick Elementary
Blackstone Elementary
Warren/Prescott K-8
E Greenwood Leadership
King K-8
Lee K-8
Harvard/Kent Elementary
Sumner Elementary
Trotter
Ellison/Parks EES
West Zone ELC
Higginson/Lewis K-8
Adams Elementary
Kilmer K-8 (K-3)
Holmes Elementary
McCormack Middle
Young Achievers K-8
Dever Elementary
Quincy Elementary
Fenway High
Boston Arts Academy
Bradley Elementary
Brighton High
Kennedy HC Fenway 11-12
Tynan Elementary
Mather Elementary
OBryant Math & Sci.
Greenwood Sarah K-8
Ellis Elementary
Jackson/Mann K-8
Eliot K-8
Clap Innovation School
Kennedy HC Fenwood 9-10
Edison K-8
Kilmer K-8 (4-8)
Rogers Middle
Snowden International
TechBoston Academy
Lyndon K-8
Philbrick Elementary
Murphy K-8
Orchard Gardens K-8
Boston Latin
Condon
Haynes EEC
Grew Elementary
Ohrenberger
McKay K-8
Taylor Elementary
Charlestown High
New Mission High
Madison Park High
Manning Elementary
Russell Elementary
Curley K-8
Perry K-8
Frederick Pilot Middle
Kennedy Patrick Elem
Up Academy Holland
Hale Elementary
Alighieri Montessori
Lyon K-8
Haley Elementary
Shaw Pauline A Elem
Middle School Academy
Hernandez K-8
Dudley St Neigh. Schl
Mildred Avenue K-8
Otis Elementary
Henderson 5-8
Mason Elementary
Urban Science Academy
UP Academy Boston
West Roxbury Academy
Timilty Middle
Excel High
Boston Adult Tech Acad
Roosevelt K-8 (2-8)
Newcomers Academy
Henderson 9-12
English High
Comm Acad Sci Health
Edwards Middle
Dorchester Academy
Mozart Elementary
Boston Comm Lead Acad
Boston Latin Academy
Burke High
Another Course College
Greater Egleston High
Quincy Upper School
Boston International
Boston Green Academy
Community Academy

There are 14 schools who

classified 100% of the students
referred and 35 who referred 0%
Variable rates likely reflect
differing school cultures
around classification
A centralized auditing process
can narrow the band of variability
The variable classification rates
could imply that some students
are receiving services they do
not need, while others are
missing students who do
need extra support

Deeper data dives at the level of IEP are needed to understand whether students
in these programs are being classified when they may be over classified
Cultural shifts in the district may be necessary to identify whether classification is
systematically too high, or appropriate, given the student population

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

* Schools with less than 200 student enrollments

Source: Office of Special Education data

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

2 BPS SPED classification is above MA average, well above nation

State classification rates, 2011

Massachusetts district classification rates, 2015

% of students classified students with disabilities (SWD)

17.8

Massachusetts

32.3

Top 25%
19.5

Boston

17.3

25-50%
16.2

New England average

16.5

Massachusetts

14.8

50-75%
13.1

United States
0

10

11.0

Bottom 25%

15

20

10

15

20

25

SWD vs. Free and Reduced Meal (FARM) rates by Mass.

District, 2015

There are districts with similar challenges and

lower SPED %

% of students SWD, % of students FARM

% FARM
100

Boston

80

40

35

Districts with equal or greater FARM, but lower SWD:

Revere
Everett

60

30

Brockton
Lynn
Chelsea
Springfield

20
0
6

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

% SWD
Source: MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2013; this includes all 409 districts
in MA, many of which are individual schools; the state average remains unchanged when just
traditional districts are considered

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

2 BPS is increasing special education inclusion, a strong

research-based decision designed to benefit students with disabilities
Inclusion is good for both special education
and general education students

BPS is expecting to move to full inclusion

as a district by 2019

A 2014 state of Massachusetts report found

BPS aspires to move up to 80% of SWD

that across the state, students with

disabilities who had full inclusion
placements appeared to outperform similar
students who were not included to the same
extent in general education classrooms with
their non-disabled peers.1

A 2013 BPS study found that general

education students in inclusion classrooms
performed 1.5x better on ELA MCAS and 1.6x
better on Math MCAS2

BPS had just 57% of SWD in inclusion

into inclusion classrooms, leaving just

those with disabilities that make inclusion
inappropriate in substantially separate
classrooms, movement of roughly 2,500
students

The BPS plan is to create more inclusion

classrooms at the K-1 and K-2 levels, to
grow inclusion from the bottom, while
moving K-5 classrooms into inclusion a
zone at a time, at the rate of one zone a
year, over five years

classrooms in 2013

1 Review of Special Education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: A Synthesis Report," August 2014
2 Office of Special Education City Council presentation, June 2014

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

2 SPED plan for roll-out currently spreads $326M in additional costs

over 10 years, with eventual, annual savings reaching ~$63M
The Special Education

Additional classrooms could add inclusion capacity

# inclusion classrooms added annually

141

139

135

133

107

95

73
27

85

75

50

38

25

Special education annual budget for classroom teaching is expected to grow by

~$6M annually at peak of 10 of roll out, with eventual budget shrinking by ~$65M/yr
$M, SPED classroom budget
Inclusion costs
124

123

129

123

119

Sub/separate costs
103

91

83

75

70

66

63

59

SY14- 15-16 16-17 17-18 18-19 19-20 20-21 21-22 22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26 26-27
15
Source: Interviews with Office of Special Education

departments plan for inclusion

is phased in fully over 13
years, calling for gradual
adoption, with two networks (AG) beginning the process every
year for the first five years
By the final year of the roll-out
additional costs for inclusion
are planned to grow to
~$43M annually
As critical mass of inclusion
classrooms grows, a tipping
point is expected to occur,
allowing elimination of
sub/separate classrooms at
an increasing rate, beginning in
SY16-17
The annual SPED budget is
expected to drop below
historical spends beginning
in SY17-18
The total $326M cost of
moving to inclusion is
expected to be fully paid for
by the final year (SY26-27)

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

3 Values survey reveals there is a desire for more accountability

and less bureaucracy in the Central Office
Most experienced values
1. Internal Politics (41)
2. Bureaucracy (25)
3. Accountability (15)
4. Lack of shared purpose (14);
Customer focus (14)

Most desired values

1. Being collaborative (39)
2. Accountability (33)
3. Excellence (28)
4. Equity (21)

Least experienced values

1. Efficiency (28)
2. Equity (27)
3. Accountability (25);
Employee focus (25)
4. Fear (12);
Trust (12)

Least desired values

1. Inconsistent (40)
2. Bureaucracy (37)
3. Slow moving (31)
4. Silos (30);
Internal Politics (30)

Therefore, BPS could consider

Defining what accountability looks like for its Central Office

Reducing the internal politics and bureaucracy currently experienced

Source: Values and Alignment Survey of BPS central office staff (n=72)

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

3 Goal alignment within departments is strong, but there is not

strong consensus on what the Districts goals are
When we set our goals as a department, we make
sure that we start with the districts goals and then
determine what ours should be. Cabinet
Department leader

I dont even know what the districts or

superintendents goals are [] its too unclear. Our
only mission is to avoid lawsuits. Cabinet
Department leader
Strengths
The employees in every department seem very well
aligned with their departmental goals
A few departments ensure that their departmental
goals tie directly to the districts goals
Areas for improvement
There is no consensus across the departments about
what the districts goals actually are
Some goals are shared by multiple departments (e.g.,
adjusting the liaison structure to better serve the
schools) but there is little-to-no collaboration in
accomplishing these goals leading to poor returns
Great examples in departments:
Academics Ensures that initiatives and goals directly
tied to the districts goals
Source: Values and Alignment Survey (n=72); One-on-one Cabinet
Leader interviews

Results from BPS Central Office Survey

Departmental goals align with districts top goals
and priorities, number of respondents
33
20
7
7
5

Direct-report employees well aligned with my top

goals and priorities, number of respondents
15
3

21

Strong accountability for reaching individual

goals, number of respondents
33
6

Completely
disagree

10

16
7

Neither
agree nor
disagree

Completely
agree
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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

3 The Central Office organization pyramid is standard with some

exceptions
Total number of managers and individual
contributors in each organizational layer
n

Managers

n-1
n-2

Individual Contributors

13
40

Average number of direct reports for

managers in each organizational layer

n-1

52

n-4
overall

13
119

2.5

33

n-2
n-3

13.0

3.7

148

n-3

291
472

overall

5.6
4.0

Observations

BPS has an average of 4.0 direct reports per manager (2-15 across departments)
Departments vary in how many Assistant Directors they have (0-9 per department)
While the pyramid looks mostly standard, there are 13 direct-reports at the top level

Source: BPS Org Charts for all departments reporting to the Superintendent (with the exception of Operations and detail
below the first three levels for Comp. Student Services)

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

3 BPS is within range of peers, but still supports a lower than

average student to non-teaching staff ratio across the system
Average student-non-teaching staff ratio
Ratio of total students to total non-teaching staff, 2011
Peer Avg. 17.3
Cleveland
Newark
Columbus
Tulsa
Omaha
Boston
Oklahoma City
Atlanta
DC
Wichita
LA
Tucson
Oakland
San Francisco
Sacramento

8.2
9.9

Moving BPS to
the peer set
average could
reduce the need
for ~500 FTE of
district nonteaching staff

12.9
13.1
13.9
14.5
16.9
16.9
17.2
17.6
19.4
20.2
22.0

Source: U.S. Department of Education, 2011; Boston Public Schools Facts at a Glance 2013-2014

25.5
28.6
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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

Potential action items

Decisions / actions
1

Opportunity to consolidate 30-50 schools

Given calendar constraints, strategic decision to address district overextension

and consolidate 30-50 schools in next ~2 years would need to happen
immediately for planning to begin

~$50-85m/yr plus ~$120200m one-time

Given the calendar and union restrictions, a decision on outsourcing

Opportunity to speed
SPED reforms
~$17-21M in FY161 and
~$63M longer-term
annually

paraprofessionals and specialists would need to be made immediately, with

potential blowback weighed
Reassess pace and transition plans for SPED inclusion strategy with the aim of
shortening time to benefits and reducing financial investment to get there
Decisions to reassess SPED rates and classifications would require decision and
cultural shifts

Decisions around central office alignment with new schools footprint would need to

3
Opportunity to reorganize
central office and nonteaching staff
Up to ~$27M ongoing
reduction

happen with school closings to immediately align support as befits new district
Consider building capacity to execute and support near-term priorities while
aligning staff around clear goals
Review current non-teaching staff allocations and ratios to understand benefits to
students and assess opportunities for reallocation

Transportation savings exist, but the decision would need to be made to lengthen
Opportunities to
improve operations
~$10-33m/yr

walks to bus stops and not guarantee busing on the current scale
Outsourcing custodial and maintenance services can capture savings immediately,
but may require a reduction in unionized employees
Moving toward in-housing all food services needs to be researched and aligned
with capital planning process

1 While FY16 budget has been approved, FY16 opportunities could still be pursued

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

Overview of BPS opportunities

1

Opportunity to
consolidate
~30-50
schools

2
Opportunity to
speed SPED
reforms
3

Opportunity
to reorganize
central office and
non-teaching staff

Potential savings opportunity2

Consolidate ~30-50 schools

~$1.7m savings per school

~$50-85M /yr

Sell/lease ~30-50 closed school buildings

estimated value ~$4m per school

~$120-200M one-time

Phase in of inclusion

~$63M /yr after full phase-in (curr. FY26)

External paraprofessionals

~$9-11M /yr

External related service providers

~$8-10M /yr

Align non-teaching staff across the system

to be more in-line with peers

~$27M /yr

Food
Services

Maintenance

Captureable

Activity

Transport

Opportunity
to improve
operations

Captureable, but time-sensitive

Raise average bus stop walk up ~$6-19M /yr

to 0.25 mile, from current 0.16

Target meal participation to

improve revenues

~$5M /yr

Centralize food preparation

~$1-3M /yr

Contract out for the 137 night

custodian workers

~$1-3M /yr

Contract out all maintenance to

single contractor

~$1-3M /yr

FY16

FY17

FY18

Onetime

Immediate opportunities to save ~$20-40m in FY16 if intense focus and execution placed on activities
With bold decisions and focus, annual savings could total ~$150-200M /yr, and additional $120-200m one-time benefit

1 While FY16 budget has been approved, FY16 opportunities could still be pursued
2 Savings across opportunities were evaluated as independent options and the total dollar savings across multiple initiatives are therefore not entirely| 25
additive

Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

APPENDIX

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

The approach to the operational review shifted from a broad scan

Progress review
to deep dives

Activities

Data collection and

interviews

High-level diagnostic

Deep-dive on priority areas

Opportunity
development

Collect existing data

and reports based
on data request
Identify internal and
external
stakeholders for
interviews and focus
groups
Begin scheduling
and conducting
interviews and focus
groups
Start initial analysis
and benchmarking

Conduct high-level
quantitative and
qualitative analysis across
the 25 areas, including
benchmarking
Review previous reports,
studies, reviews, etc.
Analyze the BPS budget
Collect input on priority
operational areas from
internal and external
stakeholders through
interviews, focus groups,
and other forums

For the prioritized areas,

review diagnostic findings
and identify gaps vs. best
practice
Conduct additional deepdive analyses to assess
efficiency and
effectiveness
opportunities
Prioritize areas with
greatest opportunity to
explore further

Synthesis of initial
key themes and
learning

Overview of BPS fiscal

and operational health
across each of the 25
areas
Identification of priority
areas for deep-dives

Interim workshops as
requested by the City
Detailed diagnostic of
priority areas

Outcomes

Prioritize
improvement
opportunities based
on impact toward
BPS mission and
strategic goals
Identify short term
and long term
actions for
implementation
For priority opportunities, provide
rationale, estimates
of costs and cost
savings, and practical implementation
guidance
Workshop to align
on next steps for
BPS in capturing
opportunities

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Pre-decisional Proprietary and Confidential

A high-level scan informed the Steering Committees

prioritization of areas for deeper exploration
CONCEPTUAL

High-level scan across 25 areas

informing Steering
Committee prioritization

From data and interviews,

the Steering Committee
considered the size of the
opportunity in terms of
benefits to students, cost
savings, and efficiency

From this approach, 11

areas emerged in two
groups as potential Phase
2 targets

leading to
prioritized areas for
deeper exploration

District
overextension

Special Education
Central
Office/Organization

Additional
operational savings

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