Overview of Maintenance and Operations

The M&O Division of Albuquerque Public Schools is responsible for the physical, environmental and safety, and esthetic condition of the largest and ever expanding collection of buildings in New Mexico. These include 143 schools (some sharing the same campus); two sports facilities (and soon to be three); four administration complexes; the Data Center; Research, Development and Accountability Testing Warehouse; Materials Management Warehouse in addition to M&O’s own expansive complex consisting of numerous Craft Shops within eight departments and its own M&O Warehouse as well as Central Kitchen. (A new larger Central Kitchen is currently under design.)

APS, the nation’s 28th largest public school district, received the highest rating for Management of Maintenance & Operations in the 2011 national study conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS). The annual research findings present a wide-ranging array of statistical indicators developed by CGCS and its member urban school districts to measure performance of K-12 large public school districts. And because the many services provided by M&O are vital to the uninterrupted and fluid functioning of the sole purpose of a school system — educating students and instilling their love of learning — the Division’s many technicians and support staff are gratified by the recognition. (See the most current 2012 Study results beginning on page 89 of the Appendices.)

The nucleus of M&O is the MaintenanceDirect/Facility Information Management System (FIMS) database. A component of SchoolDude purchased by New Mexico Public School Facility Authority in 2005 for use by all state public schools, FIMS and SchoolDude have significantly increased M&O’s productivity and streamlined the management of budgets; project planning and work scheduling; tracking of activity; projecting needs; and the daily dissemination of hundreds of work orders and monitoring the progress of performance in addition to work time and costs. Accessible to all APS authorized personnel and M&O contractors via the APS Intranet, SchoolDude provides timely information regarding the status of work orders, thus eliminating miscommunication and misunderstanding between all parties. Every year M&O expands its knowledge and use of the many modules available in SchoolDude, thereby tightening work productivity, cutting costs, accountability, and utilizing historical data in planning for the future. A preventative maintenance program is in place and implemented to help track and reduce long-term maintenance costs,
service outages, and large expenses.