I am honored to reach out to you today and humbly submit our application for the Facility Maintenance Decisions Achievement Awards on behalf of Frederick County Public Schools located in Frederick, Md. As a proud member of our local community we have nearly 41,000 students, 5,650 employees, 66 schools, and over 6.5 million square feet under roof. As a Maintenance and Operations Department we strive each and every day to provide an optimal learning environment for students all across our system.
As the single largest land mass county in the state we have been challenged to empower staff at all levels of the organization to act in such a way as to support the needs of students. All Frederick County high schools rank in the nation’s top 11 percent for encouraging students to take challenging Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate tests, according to The Washington Post's 2015 Challenge Index. As a school system that promotes high achievement in our students we expect the same from our staff. In our constant effort to be better each and every day we have placed an emphasis on staff professional development.
The “problem” that we tackled was taking our support of student and staff needs to a higher level. Tying what M&O does directly to student achievement was a completely new way of thinking about what we do and we wanted a tangible way of making this connection.
We chose this particular course of action as outlined below because as an employer FCPS places a premium on the investment and development of staff. Our Board of Education feels so strongly about this aspect of what we do that when they were revamping our aspirational goals, having “effective and engaged” staff was one of the goals.
The “challenges” we faced along the way were quite diverse. One of the early ones was the nuts and bolts of funding these training initiatives. Finding not only the monies to pay for these offerings but also the opportunity costs of having staff away from their work sites sitting in a classroom was quite challenging. Another somewhat unexpected challenge was communicating to staffers, some of whom have been here for more than 30 years, the importance of this professional development. The idea that FCPS was investing in them personally and professionally, and that they hadn’t done anything “wrong,” was one that had to be sold. Once we got people moving it was easy to keep them moving along the road of growing.
The outcome was an overt connection between with what M&O does and student achievement. In these extremely challenging budgetary times, being able to tie what we do specifically to students was an important aspect of this entire process. Key stakeholders from both inside and outside the organization were able to see the value we in M&O bring to bear each and every day. Seeing the excitement in the eyes of colleagues as they took steps, some bit and some small, along the road to developing their own personal skillsets was something to behold. Watching staff appreciate FCPS for the investment in them and their growth was amazing.
Just a few examples of our professional development program are outlined below.
In closing, Frederick County Public Schools is worthy of consideration for your FMD Achievement Award in the Personnel Management category. The commitment we have made, and will continue to make, in our Maintenance and Operations staff and their professional development is unwavering. Our Superintendent, Dr. Theresa Alban, has created a fertile environment for staff to do their best work that translates into higher student achievement. Our entire professional development program is predicated on providing an optimal learning environment for students and nothing more.
Superintendent Dr. Theresa Alban
Chief Operating Officer Dr. Ann Bonitatibus
Executive Director Facilities Ray Barnes
Director Maintenance and Operations Bob Wilkinson
Curtis Orndorff Manager, Cluster Maintenance Program
John Carnahan Manager, Custodial Services
