Increasing transparency

One purpose of this blog is to increase the transparency of Springfield Public Schools’ operations. It is imperative that a high-performing system give stakeholders easy access to information about critical decisions and everyday operations.

Another way we are trying to enhance transparency as an organization is by posting our internal audit reports online. I’m not aware of many other public entities in the area that do so. You can read them and find out for yourself where we are doing well in managing our resources and where we’ve identified opportunities for improvement. When you do, you’ll see an audit of the Superintendent and Board of Education was the first one posted.

I’d also like you to be aware that we are currently evaluating the feasibility of the KSPR building at 1359 E. St. Louis St. as a potential site for our administrative offices. The deadline is looming for us to determine whether we will invest money in our current building or move to a more efficient facility. We know we will have to spend a minimum of $600,000 to repair the boiler at Kraft Administrative Center just to pass building code. Last week, the elevator in the building was taken out of service for required costly repairs that may take more than six weeks.

While some might oppose our moving to a different building, it could help solve several problems. In addition to addressing the inadequacies of our current building, moving to a new location would allow us to improve the Central High School campus by providing much-needed green space and parking for the school.

Any thoughts?