San Antonio Independent School District March 2000 F or at least two years, the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) has been in dire need of clear direction. Poor financial decisions, lagging student performance and a lack of careful planning have left the district's reputation and its financial viability at risk. Despite per-student spending considerably above the state average, the district's student test scores have lagged. In 1999, SAISD was among the lowest of the seven largest Texas school districts in student performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The district's finances have been rocky as well. In 1999, the board passed a 10-percent, across-the-board employee pay raise and a significant tax cut without reducing other budget items. To make ends meet, the board spent nearly half of the district's reserve fund--its savings account. This left its cash on hand so dangerously low that the state's commissioner of education issued a formal warning to the district. The board also dismissed SAISD's superintendent, buying out her contract for nearly $800,000, a move that violated state law which prohibits buyouts for more than the value of one year's salary and benefits. TEA threatened to deduct almost the full amount of the buyout from SAISD's state funding. TSPR in SAISD In September 1999, my office began a performance review of SAISD in accordance with authority granted my office by the Texas Legislature. Typically, the Texas School Performance Review (TSPR) visits a school district at the invitation of its school board and superintendent. This review is the first time I've exerted my authority to examine the operations of a district that is poor performing academically or financially, or serves the greatest number of students. SAISD met all three criteria--problems that can be attributed, at least in part, to ineffective leadership. This district is the state's seventh largest with 59,080 students. About 95 percent are minority, and 87 percent are classified as economically disadvantaged. The 1999- 2000 budget was $390 million. When we began this review, SAISD had not had a permanent superintendent for five months. This leadership vacuum was filled by instances of board micromanagement that drew intense criticism from the community. A late- night purge of SAISD personnel, for example, proved so unpopular that the board promptly rehired many of those fired. Too often, SAISD's board questioned even the smallest administrative decisions that should be left to district managers. While troubled, SAISD has still shown a willingness to make the hard decisions needed to improve the delivery of education services to its students. While TSPR was conducting the review, SAISD froze hiring to trim more than $20 million from its $410 million budget for fiscal 1999-2000 - a step made necessary because of poor board planning and decision-making. And, while student performance has improved, TAAS scores in 1999 were still 17 percentage points below the state average. In December 1999, the district hired a permanent superintendent. Under his direction, the district must now seek ways to improve financially and academically. This will require better planning and the cooperation of all concerned parties. After nearly six months of review, we have found a number of ways to improve district operations. If the district fully implements the recommendations in this report, SAISD would achieve a net savings of more than $25.1 million over the next five years. That's education dollars that can go directly into the classroom, to the teachers and children, where it belongs. The review also found laudable practices that can and should serve as models for other school districts. I would like to extend my personal thanks to SAISD's dedicated employees and parents, as well as board members and community members who contributed valuable ideas and suggestions. As always, we are ready to do anything and everything we can to help SAISD implement our recommendations. My door is always open to Texans who want to improve our schools. Your suggestions are welcome at any time. Carole Keeton Rylander Comptroller of Public Accounts Key Findings and Recommendations District Organization and Management SAISD should develop comprehensive and long-term strategic planning tied to the budget. This change should help the district avoid the financial problems that have plagued the district recently. The SAISD board should create standing committees of board members for instruction, finance, facilities and auditing. This would help it manage issues more effectively and efficiently while discouraging factionalism. In the area of instruction, SAISD should be reorganized into three vertical teams that would operate more efficiently in providing schools with the guidance and support needed to focus on the district's main mission of educating children. Career and Technology Instruction Nearly 100 of SAISD's 130 career and technology classes, which help prepare its students for high-skill, high-wage jobs, have six or fewer students. These classes require the equivalent of 16 full-time teachers. SAISD could make better use of teaching resources by eliminating the career and technology classes with six or fewer students. Test Exemptions While SAISD's overall student performance has improved, the number of special education children exempted from the TAAS test has risen sharply. Furthermore, the results of alternative testing have not been analyzed to identify weaknesses in current curriculum and instruction. By testing all children and using the results of those tests to monitor and adjust its curriculum as needed, the district should be able to further improve its overall student test scores. Fiscal Management Better analysis of the fiscal impact of board decisions could have prevented some of the district's recent financial problems. The board should gauge the fiscal impact of all proposed actions. This would help head off decisions that threaten district finances. The fund balance should be raised to the minimum recommended by TEA guidelines. Community Involvement The Citizens Oversight Committee (COC), which the board established to review bond program activities, should receive straight answers to its recommendations. The COC regularly appears before the board, but has not received satisfactory answers concerning its recommendations. TSPR recommends that the board adopt a policy stating that before the board votes on matters related to the bond program, the COC's recommendations should be considered publicly in a general school board meeting. The district should also add an ombudsman to provide community members greater access to the district's services and recourse when problems arise. Department Consolidations SAISD could improve communication and cut costs by combining the Plant Services and Construction Management Departments. Custodial Staffing A savings of $12 million could be realized over five years by deploying custodial staff to meet best-practices formulas. SAISD has about 79 more full-time custodians than it needs. The district should reallocate existing staff as new schools open instead of hiring new custodians. Asset Management SAISD should buy a bar-code reader system to track equipment and property faster and more easily. This would help the district conduct inventories of every school's property annually instead of just scheduling inventories of 10 to 15 schools a year. Purchasing An automated purchasing system would help save time and effort spent on outdated manual procedures. Minor purchases could be made with credit cards issued to district employees. The cards, called procurement cards, would have spending limits and restrictions on the types of purchases. They can significantly reduce the number of purchase orders and payments the district must process each year. Furthermore, the district should take steps to ensure that it receives vendor discounts whenever possible. Campus Security Student safety was a major concern cited in TSPR's surveys and public forums. SAISD could improve the safety of its students by requiring students and staff to wear badges. This would ensure that unauthorized people do not wander freely through school and grounds. The district also should develop a comprehensive security plan and police department strategic plan that include performance and cost-efficiency measures. Summary of Net Savings TSPR Review of San Antonio Independent School District Year Total Initial Annual Net 2000-01 $3,735,961 Savings Additional Annual Net 2000-02 $5,185,992 Savings Additional Annual Net 2000-03 $5,535,905 Savings Additional Annual Net 2000-04 $5,535,905 Savings Additional Annual Net 2000-05 $5,535,905 Savings One Time Net Costs ($360,762) TOTAL NET SAVINGS $25,168,906 PROJECTED FOR 2000-2005 Exemplary Programs and Practices TSPR identified numerous "best practices" in SAISD. Through commendations in each chapter, the report highlights model programs, operations, and services provided by SAISD administrators, teachers, and staff members. Other school districts throughout Texas are encouraged to examine the exemplary programs and services to see if they can be adapted to meet local needs. TSPR's commendations include the following: • All board meeting agendas and supporting materials are posted on the district's Web site and can be downloaded. No other Texas school district reviewed by TSPR to date does this. • Event notices, announcements and other significant information also are available on the Web site. The district's intranet is used extensively by employees and is among the best-organized and administered of all the intranet sites examined by TSPR. • Trinity University and University of Incarnate Word collaborate with the district in programs designed to help principals and teachers attain advanced degrees. • During the summer, SAISD provides migrant students with at-home weekly instruction by qualified teachers supported with distance-learning technology. This program serves as an alternative to traditional summer school. • Intervention teams help the district's lowest-performing schools by making frequent visits and assisting with the implementation of best practices to improve their performance. • SAISD works closely with the area business community in developing successful volunteer mentoring programs that provide schools and students with a wide variety of assistance. • School-based clinics use area health-care resources as well as district staff. Parents express overwhelming satisfaction with students' access to school nurses. • When it developed its 1997 bond proposal, SAISD used a systematic method to assess its facility needs. The high level of detail allowed the district to provide complete information to SAISD voters and was a major factor in approval of the bonds. • In choosing architects, the district selects eight lead architects to form a design team for each project, resulting in a wide variety of expertise. • SAISD manages student activity funds centrally to maximize interest yields that are then funneled back to individual schools. • The total cost of computer ownership is analyzed to determine whether the district should lease or purchase computers. This strategy has saved several million dollars over the past three years. • SAISD's police force receives rigorous training that far exceeds state requirements and contributes to an effective and responsive force. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL March 20, 2000 The Honorable George W. Bush The Honorable Rick Perry The Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney Members of the Texas Legislature Commissioner Jim Nelson, Ed.D. Ladies and Gentlemen: I am pleased to present our performance review of the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). This review is intended to help SAISD hold the line on costs, streamline operations and improve services to ensure that more of every education dollar goes directly into the classroom, with the teacher and children, where it belongs. To aid in this task, the Comptroller's office contracted with MGT of America, Inc. We have made a number of recommendations to improve SAISD's efficiency, and we have also highlighted a number of "best practices" in district operations--model programs and services provided by SAISD's administrators, teachers and staff. This report outlines 154 detailed recommendations that could save SAISD more than $28.3 million over the next five years, while reinvesting more than $3.1 million to improve educational services and other operations. Net savings are estimated to reach more than $25.1 million--savings that SAISD can redirect to the classroom. We are grateful for the cooperation of SAISD's board, staff, parents and community members, and we commend them for their dedication to improving the educational opportunities for our most precious resource in SAISD--our children. I also am pleased to announce that the report is available on our Web site at <http://www.window.state.tx.us/tspr/sa>. Sincerely, Carole Keeton Rylander Comptroller of Public Accounts