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September Status Report

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Title: September Status Report


1
Orleans Parish School Board Accounting, Human
Resource and Financial Management Plan and
Implementation Status Report 5
September Status Report Submitted October 4, 2005
2
Table of Contents
  • Section Page
  • Executive Summary 2
  • Working Group Updates
  • Financial Management Accounting 4
  • Human Resources Payroll 7
  • Procurement Inventory Management 14
  • Information Technology 16
  • Facilities Maintenance 19

3
Executive Summary
  • Prior to the devastating impact of Hurricane
    Katrina, Alvarez Marsals (AMs) role as
    interim crisis managers turning around the
    troubled New Orleans Public School System
    (NOPS) had three distinct phases
  • Stabilize the Crisis this encompassed the
    numerous controls we were implementing to control
    the overspending outside the classroom and lack
    of effective support being provided to the
    classroom by the organization (ie. controlling
    the checkbook, reviewing every purchase
    requisition, reducing the number of Oracle
    Superusers to 1, payroll benefits audit,
    issuing a 50M RAN financing, etc.)
  • Develop a Restructuring Plan this encompassed
    developing revised general fund and special
    revenue budgets where NOPS anticipated revenues
    would exceed its anticipated expenditures.
  • Execute building internal capacity within the
    organization to ultimately replace AM interim
    managers with permanent replacements.
  • Post Katrina, our role as interim crisis
    managers has not changed. As well, our three
    phased strategy is also the same, however, with
    different tactics being implemented to achieve
    the same goal delivering a world class system
    through which public education is delivered to
    the children of New Orleans. This three phased
    restructuring approach can be summarized as
    follows
  • Stabilize the Crisis The primary stakeholders
    of NOPS, our students and employees, were
    displaced around the country after New Orleans
    was flooded. We set up a crisis call center
    staffed with up to 20 operators as well as a
    crisis web site to communicate to and with our
    stakeholders. We secured critical backup tapes
    for Oracle, operating systems and student
    information from the Data Center in New Orleans 2
    days after Katrina hit. We were able to
    establish an operational NOPS Oracle environment
    in a disaster recovery site in New York. We
    performed site inspections with the aid of
    donated professionals from other public school
    districts and the Council of Great City Schools
    and identified 16 schools in Algiers/WestBank and
    Uptown that suffered minimal damage from the
    floods and issued emergency work orders to patch
    roofs and windows prior to Hurricane Ritas
    arrival.

4
Executive Summary (cont.)
  • Develop a Restructuring Plan We have developed
    a plan to potentially open up to 8 schools in
    Algiers/West Bank in November. This plan is
    contingent upon at least three critical
    approvals i) student demand and teacher
    availability ii) EPA, City and other
    regulatory signoffs iii) state and federal
    funding. We have begun accepting expressions of
    interest to gauge demand levels by our students
    and employees to return to NOPS by November 2005.
    Expression of interest forms are capturing
    information from this population through our
    crisis call center, website, and eventually some
    local businesses in Algiers. Project worksheets
    are being developed under the guidance of FEMA,
    and bids are being developed and eventually
    competitively sourced to perform the repair and
    restoration work. Similarly, bids are being
    prepared for the delivery of key support systems
    including food, transportation, security
    monitoring, etc. The costs of the rehiring plan,
    payroll benefits, overhead, support
    infrastructure, etc are all being integrated into
    a comprehensive financial plan to be presented to
    the Board, State and Federal officials.
  • Execute - We have submitted to the State a
    revised scope to include three additional
    responsibilities that were not part of our
    original contract scope
  • Real Estate key interim leadership is being
    provided over the repair work of the 8 schools
    and longer term over the physical reconstruction
    of the entire school district. AM is providing
    the construction project management and
    development expertise to oversee this aspect of
    the rebuilding effort.
  • Insurance Claims Recovery Management - key
    interim leadership is being provided over the
    creation, filing, submission and negotiation, and
    eventual receipt of insurance proceeds from both
    insurance carriers and FEMA that is necessary in
    order to fund the continued rebuilding effort
    described above.
  • Facilities - key interim leadership is being
    provided in the ongoing day-to-day cleaning and
    maintenance related issues in getting the schools
    operational.
  • The additions to our original scope will not
    result in an increasing in the contracts price.
    We have accelerated the time frame in building
    internal capacity within NOPS to eventually make
    redundant the services and expertise being
    provided by AM on an interim basis due to our
    learning curve over the past few months and no
    longer having the need to fix broken pre-existing
    systems, but rather build new systems from
    scratch.
  • Finally, the longer term rebuild and renovation
    of the majority of NOPS schools that were
    damaged more heavily will be the subject of
    future status reports and planned in accordance
    with the Citys phased re-opening and
    repopulating process.

5
Financial Management Accounting
  • Key Accomplishments
  • Cash
  • Modified weekly cash flow forecast for material
    changes caused by the post-hurricane environment,
    including projections of the following
  • Remaining payroll amounts owed to the
    Districts pre-hurricane employees
  • Crisis management call center for displaced
    employees
  • Ongoing benefits costs for recalled employees
    and furloughed employees
  • Protection and recovery of critical fixed
    assets including data and systems recovery
  • Loss and/or substantial reduction of cash
    receipts from the City and State
  • Critical administrative payroll and critical
    vendors post-hurricane and
  • One-time and recurring costs to stand up
    schools.
  • Deferred September 1, 2005, bond obligations and
    contacted all bond trustees and bond insurers to
    provide them with financial and operational
    updates.
  • Communicated financial and operational updates to
    other key external constituencies related to the
    finances of the District, including bankers and
    bond counsel.
  • Indefinitely postponed 50 million RAN financing
    that had been scheduled to close on August 31,
    the week of Hurricane Katrina.
  • Began identifying school-based bank accounts
    (student activity fund accounts) listed under
    the school boards tax identification number, and
    froze all transactions in identified accounts to
    ensure security of these funds during immediate
    post-disaster timeframe. Continued to work with
    Liberty Bank and Whitney Bank on our outstanding
    requests to provide the District with remaining
    student activity bank account information for
    those accounts yet to be identified and frozen.
  • Monitored daily cash receipt and disbursement
    transactions in each of the Districts bank
    accounts. Where visibility was not available
    during the weeks following the hurricane,
    contacted local banks to determine status.
  • Obtained Federal Reserve safe-keeping receipts
    for local banks holding material funds of the
    District to ensure security of the Districts
    funds during the crisis.
  • Began consolidating and closing unnecessary
    and/or dormant bank accounts, reducing the number
    of financial institutions with whom the District
    banks in order to streamline management of and
    place better controls in the treasury function.
  • Obtained bond counsel opinion supporting the use
    of existing capital project funds (over 15
    million) to fund liquidity needs for the school
    building repair efforts.

6
Financial Management Accounting (cont.)
  • Accounts Payable
  • Processed critical payments to vendors necessary
    to resume essential activities, including travel
    reimbursement requests made by board members.
  • Segregated pre-Katrina payables from post-Katrina
    liabilities for go-forward accounting purposes.
  • Planning for proof of claim process to manage
    pre-Katrina liabilities to vendors.
  • General Fund Budget
  • Developed draft preliminary projection of school
    and other operating expenses based on revised
    school year and new enrollment assumptions for
    submission to the US Department of Education
  • Began development of revised operating budget for
    FY 2005-6.
  • General Accounting
  • Supported payroll team in processing pre-Katrina
    payroll in an off-line system as a result of the
    damage to the District information systems.
  • Began recording accounting activity in an
    off-line system until the Districts information
    systems are fully operational.
  • Began analyzing and revising chart of accounts,
    including disabling of inactive values, to
    improve the accuracy and usefulness of accounting
    data in the go-forward systems environment.
  • Began analyzing cross validation business rules
    in the oracle system to improve the accuracy and
    usefulness of accounting data in the go-forward
    systems environment.
  • Met with Postlewaite Netterville, the
    Districts external auditors, to discuss options
    and strategies to ensure accuracy and usefulness
    of accounting data in the go-forward systems
    environment, including the potential creation of
    a new oracle instance.
  • Develop short-term plan to process July and
    August transactions against the revised chart of
    accounts to identify exceptions/errors.
  • Special Revenue Accounting Claims
  • Visited the Algiers central administration
    building to begin documentation recovery efforts
    for special revenue claims.

7
Financial Management Accounting (cont.)
  • Organizational / Administrative / Project
    Management / Crisis Management
  • Worked with the Interim Superintendent to
    identify employees necessary for continued
    operations and organized temporary offices at the
    Louisiana Department of Education.
  • Met extensively with FEMA representatives to
    determine the procedures, timing, and scope for
    federal claims related to hurricane damage.
  • Coordinated with insurance carriers to collect
    claims for hurricane damages.
  • Work Planned For Upcoming Weeks
  • Meet with federal, state and local officials to
    articulate anticipated funding requirements of
    the District in FY 2005-6.
  • Assess anticipated revenue streams from the
    federal, state and local governments in order to
    determine the Districts ability to pay its
    obligations on a go-forward basis.
  • Seek board resolution to approve usage of capital
    project funds for Katrina-related school building
    repairs.
  • Finish identifying and freezing all student
    activity bank accounts.
  • Finish closing dormant bank accounts and
    consolidate operating and payroll accounts with
    two financial institutions.
  • Complete revisions and clean-up to the chart of
    accounts and cross validation accounting rules in
    oracle system.
  • Define requirements for implementation of a new
    instance of Oracle for accounting data transfer
    interim post-hurricane accounting data into
    Oracle.
  • Assist HR and Payroll in defining requirements
    for new HR data warehousing environment.
  • Propose to the Board the new operating budget for
    FY 2005-6.
  • Implement new operating budget after Board
    approval.
  • Identify additional finance department personnel
    needs and recruit temporary and permanent
    employees as appropriate.
  • Process the Success for All (SFA) documentation
    for payment and claims reimbursement.
  • If applicable, begin revising special revenue
    budgets based upon anticipated student
    enrollment. Build special revenue budget
    scenarios for various student enrollment levels,
    where applicable.

8
Human Resources and Payroll
  • Summary of Activities
  • Human Resources
  • Established a call center within 24 hours
    post-Katrina to locate New Orleans Public School
    employees, disseminate information and respond to
    questions. To date, we have located almost 7,000
    employees through this call center. We have
    averaged 2,000 calls a week. Maintained a record
    of the calls and responses. As an example, one
    day last week included
  • 594 - Employees called regarding check that has
    now been picked-up.
  • 375 - Employees were paid and initial call to
    provide MTCN needs to be made (or notification of
    supplemental check w/o MTCN).
  • 287 - Employees were NOT paid but has called
    looking for payment data.
  • 289 - Employees have specific questions and need
    to be contacted (i.e.-questions on amount of
    payment, deductions, benefits, etc).
  • 56 - Employees that we have called and left
    messages for. They will call back if they have
    further questions/issues.
  • 220 Incomplete tickets Contact phone
    number/email address for the employee not
    provided in ticket details.
  • 12 Specific questions that do not deal with
    payroll issues.
  • Established a NOPS website to increase
    communication to parents, students and employees
    of NOPS (i.e., Frequently Asked Questions,
    current press releases and important information
    for NOPS parents and employees).
  • Updated the call center and website Frequently
    Asked Questions daily based on anticipated and
    repeat employee questions.
  • Conducted internal and external meetings with key
    stakeholders, including UTNO, PANOPSI, and NOPS
    staff, to develop effective recruiting, staffing
    and retaining strategy for up to 16 schools so
    that we can potentially have those schools up and
    running during November, 2005.
  • Drafted HR related internal and external
    communications including press releases, website
    communications, FAQs, and call center scripts.
  • Developed a process for Student and Employee
    Indication of Interest.
  • Collected and communicated with 40 organizations
    and individuals who have offered assistance and
    donations for New Orleans Public Schools so that
    we can be prepared to accept their donations of
    books, desks, or funds (e.g., 10 laptops from
    Rollins College).

9
Human Resources and Payroll (cont.)
  • Summary of Activities (Cont.)
  • Developed Student and Employee Indication of
    Interest forms (web-based hard copy) to garner
    an understanding of those NOPS Parents and
    Employees who would like to return to the
    district, given the opportunity.
  • Developed Employee Verification form for those
    NOPS employees who will be brought back to ensure
    clarity and agreement on salary, benefits,
    position, title, location, deductions, etc.
  • Built agreements with external stakeholders to
    post job opportunities outside of the Parish in
    an effort to support NOPS employees in generating
    an income while they are on Disaster Leave.
  • Drafted a motion to put before the board to
    declare NOPS employees on Disaster Leave so that
    they could be eligible for and begin receiving
    unemployment.
  • Began verifying NOPS employees employment so
    that they can secure alternate job opportunities
    and housing.
  • Conducted a best practice study on staffing in
    large, urban, inner city schools including cities
    like Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis and
    Jefferson County.
  • Calculated estimated vacation and sick leave
    liabilities.
  • Began process to determine ongoing HR data
    management/system requirements.
  • Began processing of terminations, employment
    verification requests, mortgage requests, etc.
  • Helped draft the Disaster Leave Motion that was
    approved by the BOD
  • Scheduled and attended a meeting with the
    Louisiana Department of Labor Unemployment
    Insurance Division to confirm NOPS employees
    eligibility for Unemployment instead of Disaster
    Unemployment Assistance. Currently working with
    the agency to provide and receive the necessary
    information required for eligibility and
    reporting purposes.
  • Met with NOPS third party unemployment
    administrator, Temple Resource Management, to
    determine the appropriate level of assistance
    they can provide as a result of the Disaster
    Leave determination for NOPS employees.
    Reviewing and revising TRMs proposed contract,
    which may be able to reduce the amount of our
    state reimbursement.
  • Scheduled and attended meetings with the Teachers
    Retirement System of Louisiana, Louisiana State
    Employees Retirement System, and Louisiana School
    Employees Retirement System to discuss procedures
    for assisting NOPS employees who are interested
    in retiring or had questions about DROP.
  • Responded to questions from the agencies
    regarding employee status and developed scripts
    for the various retirement agencies to response
    to questions from NOPS employees.

10
Human Resources and Payroll (cont.)
  • Summary of Activities (cont.)
  • Working with Coventry to develop a plan to
    provide continuing healthcare coverage to
    impacted employees. Coordinated September
    premium payments and participant eligibility for
    September October. Working to try to resolve
    participant discrepancies related to the
    non-completion of the open enrollment process.
  • Continued reviewing the red-lined version of
    Coventry contact. Received 4th Amendment to
    previous contact in lieu of new contract.
  • Worked with third benefits party administrator,
    Fringe Benefit Management Company, to assist with
    the continuation of non-Coventry benefits.
    Coordinating the distribution of COBRA notices
    and the collection/remittance of COBRA premiums
    for eligible individuals.
  • Worked with UTNO regarding the provision of
    benefits to members through the Health Welfare
    Fund, including Coventry and FBMC/FARA benefits.
  • Coordinated Workers Compensation payments with
    our third party administrator, Hammerman
    Gainer. Working to create a process for meeting
    our statutory obligations and manage cash flow.
  • Assisted AFT and LFT as they were trying to
    locate their members/our employees. Tried to
    utilize their website for job opportunity
    postings. Arranged to have job postings put on
    LDE website.
  • Payroll
  • Located payroll employees and updated contact
    information.
  • Worked with IT, Finance, and HRIT resources to
    develop an Excel-based estimated payroll which
    was disbursed via Western Union on 9/13/2005.
  • Using an existing list of current employees and
    salaries, performed analyses and used filters to
    identify the employee population and salaries
    eligible for estimated payroll payments
  • Screened the employee population for retirement
    plan participation and assigned relevant
    employees to the assumed relevant retirement
    plan
  • Analyzed recent Coventry file and matched against
    estimated payroll file matched appropriate
    Coventry plan level for all paid employees
  • Analyzed file received from State of Louisiana to
    determine certification status of all personnel
    and arranged PEP payment for appropriate
    certificated personnel
  • Calculated federal, state, Coventry,
    retirement/social security, and Medicare
    withholdings for paid employees

11
Human Resources and Payroll (cont.)
  • Communicated with Western Union to determine the
    content and format of payroll data to be
    transmitted
  • Sent all estimated payroll files to Western Union
    and performed reconciliations against
    returned/processed Western Union files
  • Compared estimated payroll against actual payroll
    calculations and calculated difference, if any,
    owed to each employee.
  • Worked with HRIT and IT resources to bring up an
    operating Oracle instance and production
    environment.
  • Processed the actual payroll by 9/14.
  • Summary of Activities
  • Began reconciliation process between Estimated
    payroll and Actual payroll. Expected completion
    by 10/7/2005.
  • Worked with Coventry benefits provider and HR
    staff to develop move ahead plans for the month
    of September concerning employee benefits.
  • Continuing to work with Western Union on payroll
    funds disbursement.
  • Beginning the process of developing plans and
    procedures for perfecting FEMA related claims as
    they pertain to payroll costs.
  • Developed plans and procedures for the filing of
    payroll tax returns subsequent to the last Oracle
    based payroll.
  • Developed RFP for Outsourced Payroll/HR vendors.
  • Beginning to develop plans and processes for the
    go-forward payroll system and department.
  • Worked with ADP to develop a short term, interim,
    payroll processing and disbursing solution.
  • Implemented the ADP PC/PW payroll system.
  • Began the process of reconciling and closing the
    Oracle Payroll System and working with ADP to
    print 2005 W2s.
  • Began the process of collecting and storing
    necessary Oracle system payroll data.
  • Began developing plans and processes to
    facilitate the opening of schools and additions
    of returning personnel to payroll system by
    11/01/2005.

12
Human Resources and Payroll (cont.)
  • Summary of Activities (cont.)
  • Performing general payroll clean-up activities.
  • Developed new payroll calendar for remainder of
    2005.
  • Converted payroll data to ADP payroll format.
  • Worked with finance and accounting to develop new
    accounting string structure for go-forward
    payroll system.
  • Assisted HRIT and budget personnel in activities
    involving Position Control development.
  • Analyzed earnings and deduction element.
  • Work Planned For Upcoming Weeks
  • Human Resources
  • Continue to maintain and monitor call center to
    locate New Orleans Public School employees,
    disseminate information and respond to questions.
  • Continue to monitor and update NOPS website to
    increase communication to parents, students and
    employees of NOPS (i.e., Frequently Asked
    Questions, current press releases and important
    information for NOPS parents and employees).
  • Monitor and analyze Student and Employee
    Indication of Interest via web-based hard copy
    forms.
  • Begin to execute recruiting, staffing and
    retaining strategy for up to 16 schools.
  • Develop, as required, HR related internal and
    external communications including press releases,
    website communications, FAQs, and call center
    scripts.
  • Continue to collect and communicated with donor
    organizations and individuals who have offered
    assistance and donations for NOPS so that we can
    be prepared to accept their donations of books,
    desks, or funds.
  • Populate Employee Verification form for those
    NOPS employees who are brought back to ensure
    confirmation, clarity and agreement on salary,
    benefits, position, title, location, deductions,
    etc.
  • Continue to develop agreements with external
    stakeholders to post job opportunities outside of
    the Parish in an effort to support NOPS employees
    in securing employment while they are on Disaster
    Leave.
  • Continue to verifying and processing of NOPS
    terminations, employment verification requests,
    mortgage requests, etc.

13
Human Resources and Payroll (cont.)
  • Work Planned For Upcoming Weeks (cont.)
  • Continue process to determine ongoing HR data
    management/system (position control) requirements
    including strategic outsourcing opportunities.
  • Continue to work through Unemployment Insurance
    to confirm NOPS employees eligibility for
    Unemployment instead of Disaster Unemployment
    Assistance. Work with the agency to provide and
    receive the necessary information required for
    eligibility and reporting purposes.
  • Revise TRMs (unemployment TPA) proposed
    contract, to reduce the amount of our state
    reimbursement.
  • Finalize procedures for assisting NOPS employees
    who are interested in retiring or had questions
    about DROP.
  • Continue to respond to questions from the
    Retirement agencies regarding employee status and
    develop scripts for the various retirement
    agencies to respond to questions from NOPS
    employees.
  • Work with Coventry to finalize a plan to provide
    continuing healthcare coverage to impacted
    employees. Coordinate September premium payments
    and participant eligibility for September
    October. Work to try to resolve participant
    discrepancies related to the non-completion of
    the open enrollment process.
  • Summary of Activities
  • Finalize the red-lined version of Coventry
    contact.
  • Work with third benefits party administrator,
    Fringe Benefit Management Company, to assist with
    the continuation of non-Coventry benefits.
    Coordinate the distribution of COBRA notices and
    the collection/remittance of COBRA premiums for
    eligible individuals.
  • Determine which non-healthcare coverages (i.e.,
    dental, vision, life, etc) to continue,
    eliminate, or amend.
  • Work with UTNO regarding the provision of
    benefits to members through the Health Welfare
    Fund, including Coventry and FBMC/FARA benefits.
  • Continue to coordinate Workers Compensation
    payments with our third party administrator,
    Hammerman Gainer. Create a process for meeting
    our statutory obligations and manage cash flow.
  • Finalize staffing, hiring and on-boarding process
    for NOPS and non-NOPS employees.
  • Develop NOPS organization charts.

14
Human Resources and Payroll (cont.)
  • Summary of Activities (cont.)
  • Payroll
  • Continue to located payroll employees, update
    contact information and respond to payroll
    questions.
  • Reconciliation process between Estimated payroll
    and Actual payroll. Expected completion by
    10/7/2005.
  • Continue to work with HRIT and IT resources to
    bring up an operating Oracle instance and
    production environment.
  • Process bi-weekly payroll for employees brought
    back.
  • Finalize plans and procedures for perfecting FEMA
    related claims as they pertain to payroll costs.
  • Finalize plans and procedures for the filing of
    payroll tax returns subsequent to the last Oracle
    based payroll.
  • Continue to develop plans and processes for the
    go-forward payroll system and department to
    include decision regarding earning and deduction
    elements.
  • Refine the ADP PC/PW payroll system, interim,
    payroll processing and disbursing solution.
  • Reconcile and close the Oracle Payroll System and
    work with ADP to print 2005 W2s.
  • Collect and store necessary Oracle system payroll
    data.
  • Continue to evaluate new risk environment and
    developing revised payroll controls.
  • Continue to refine new payroll time entry
    processes.
  • Continue to perform general payroll clean-up
    activities.
  • Continue to work with finance and accounting to
    develop new accounting string structure for
    go-forward payroll system.

15
Procurement
  • Summary of Activities
  • Reviewed District Insurance Policies.
  • Various conversations with Districts Risk
    Manager concerning Insurance Policies.
  • Reviewed LA state emergency procedures/policies.
  • Attended various meetings with Department of
    Education, FEMA, OEP.
  • Reviewed FEMA Public Assistance materials,
    policies, and procedures.
  • Read and Reviewed 44 CFR Part 206 and Part 13 of
    the Stafford Disaster Act.
  • Arranged for tours of the Council for the Great
    City Schools at various school facility/properties
    .
  • Coordinated with Security personnel in securing
    open properties.
  • Worked with Facilities to properly procure
    emergency contract repairs on 10 schools.
  • Reviewed Districts and States Emergency
    Procurement Policies.
  • Developed interim, non-Oracle based Requisition
    and Purchasing processes.
  • Began developing informal RFPs for Construction
    services, Custodial services and Environmental
    services.
  • Met with States Child Nutrition officials in
    developing an interim Food Service Program.
  • Worked with Transportation department in
    developing informal RFPs to provide interim
    transportation services.
  • Worked with Security department in developing an
    interim, near term Security plan.
  • Created timesheets for Security personnel in
    order for them to track time for FEMA
    reimbursement purposes.
  • Participated in various meetings and follow-up
    discussions with FEMA, LDE, NOPS and AM
    personnel.
  • Met with local Councilwoman of Algiers and
    National Guard representative to seek help in
    debris removal and other general clean-up
    activities along with seeking temporary lodgings
    for AM and NOPS personnel in Algiers.

16
Procurement (cont.)
  • Work Planned For Upcoming Weeks
  • Prepare and send informal RFPs for
  • General Contracting Construction Services
  • Environmental Consulting Services
  • Janitorial and Custodial Services
  • HVAC Repair and Contracting Services
  • Transportation Services
  • Food Services (procurement of food supplies only)
  • Complete implementation of Emergency Procurement
    processes/procedures.
  • Work with the IT department to map/upload manual
    Emergency Procurement process/procedures with
    Oracle.
  • Research and implement strategic sourcing
    arrangements for
  • Office and school supplies
  • Computers, printers and other related peripherals
  • Copiers, fax machines and other related
    peripherals
  • Work with the Security department to establish
    appropriate manpower levels and procure supplies
    necessary to re-establish security presence at
    schools.
  • Work collaboratively with State Officials and the
    Child Nutrition department to provide food
    services for initial school openings.

17
Information Technology
  • Summary of Activities
  • Secured a Post-Katrina Disaster Recovery site and
    established an operational NOPS Oracle
    environment
  • Secured backup tapes for Oracle, operating
    systems and student information from Data Center
    in New Orleans
  • Negotiated a processing contract with IBM to use
    their disaster recovery data center in Tuxedo,
    New York
  • Transported and delivered 170 backup tapes
  • Restored operating systems and management systems
  • Restored Oracle in Test and Production instances
  • Established a VPN for access by NOPS and AM
    users to Oracle applications
  • Located and secured key NOPS IT leadership and
    personnel
  • Processed a Post-Katrina Payroll
  • Validated the data from the backup tapes as NOPS
    Oracle payroll and HR information
  • Located and secured key NOPS payroll personnel
    for processing of payroll from the AM Houston
    office accessing the Oracle applications located
    at the IBM disaster recovery data center in New
    York
  • Facilitated and supported the running of three
    payroll cycles in a production instance to create
    the payroll for the 3 payroll cycles disrupted by
    Katrina in an organized and systematic process
    with appropriate backups and security
  • Concurrent to the processing of the Oracle
    payroll, facilitated and supported the
    development of an payroll advance file for
    employees distributed around the country so they
    could be paid as soon as possible
  • Supported the development roll-out of a
    pre-registration call center for parents of
    students
  • Supported the development of the AM NOPS website

18
Information Technology (cont.)
  • Communicated with the state CIOs of New York,
    Michigan and Utah and the independent school
    districts in Dallas and Richardson, Texas, where
    Oracle Public Sector is also implemented to
    determine what assistance could be offered
  • Performed a high-level evaluation of other
    financial software solutions for the short-term
    bridge period and concluded that Oracle would
    scale much better than the other software
    solutions
  • Negotiated and established a short-term bridge
    payroll solution with ADP to process payroll for
    the next few months while a longer-term payroll
    and possibly HR solution goes to RFP and is
    selected
  • Negotiating with IBM, Oracle and Savvis for
    outsourcing of the Oracle Financial applications
    for a bridge solution while a longer-term hosting
    solution goes to RFP and is selected
  • Assessed the NOPS IT infrastructure and
    reestablished operations where appropriate
  • Performed a physical assessment of the data
    center at 3510 General De Gaulle and determined
    that the building was un-inhabitable and
    unsuitable for housing NOPS data center assets
  • Assessing the IT assets at schools to insure that
    as schools return to operations and that the
    computers and network connectivity are working
  • Developed an interim plan for the non-Oracle
    applications/systems to reside at a 3rd party
    data center. Negotiations BellSouth, Cox
    Communications or Network Technology Group were
    completed. Cox Communications, our existing
    network and telephone carrier, has offered their
    New Orleans data center facilities free of charge
    for as long as NOPS needs this transitional
    support
  • Reestablishing the following key operations of
    the systems
  • SASI The Student Information System
  • Winsnap cafeteria systems
  • Telephone and data networks
  • Instructional Technology Distance Learning
  • Help Desk and PC Support
  • Email and website
  • Terminated Verizon Blackberry users for
    employees not on NOPS active payroll

19
Information Technology (cont.)
  • Assisted and supported the definition of the new
    HR, Payroll, Financials and Procurement
  • operating model and Oracle instance
  • Working with the Finance Team and state auditors
    to define regulatory reporting data
    requirements
  • Working with Finance and HR/Payroll Teams to
    design operating model requirements to align with
    the rebuilding of the schools and the return of
    students teachers
  • Working with Finance and HR/Payroll Teams to
    design requirements to align with the rebuilding
    of the schools and the return of students
    teachers
  • Researching document management solutions for
    FEMA documentation reporting
  • Supported communications
  • Interacted with the media regarding the disaster
    recovery experience
  • Facilitated the development of joint NOPS AM
    work plan for Post-Katrina activities

20
Facilities and Maintenance
  • Executive Summary
  • Over the last month, the Facilities Maintenance
    team has focused on assessing the damage
    inflicted on the Orleans Parish schools due to
    Hurricane Katrina, identifying those schools that
    are best suited to be re-opened and initiating a
    plan to repair the damages.
  • In order to assess the damage to the schools, we
    contacted the Council for Great City Schools for
    assistance. This non-profit organization offered
    six engineers/architects to work with the
    AM/NOPS team to perform an initial assessment
    and to provide their input on how best to address
    the situation based on their prior experiences.
    Over a two day time period, the team assessed 21
    schools across the West Bank and Uptown District.
    Excessive flooding was not the main issue at
    these sites. Rather, most of these schools
    exhibited damage due to high winds that resulted
    in broken windows, damage to roofs, downed gutter
    and water spouts, broken branches and general
    debris. Additionally, the Hurricane provided
    power outages, which subsequently resulted in the
    rotting of perishable foods and various degrees
    of mold and mildew.
  • After performing the assessment of the schools,
    the Council for Great City Schools made a
    recommendation that up to 16 of these schools
    could be re-opened in a relatively short time
    period. These schools included the following
  • West Bank Schools
  • Behrman Walker Harte Karr
  • Fischer Eisenhower Rosenwald Henderson
  • Uptown District
  • Audubon Banneker Arthur Ashe Lusher Extension
  • Bauduit Allen McNair McDonough 7
  • Lusher Extension, as well as Lusher, have been
    identified as Charter schools by Tulane.
    Therefore, we are responsible for making repairs
    in order to allow them to open the schools on
    January 1st, but we are not responsible for
    staffing these facilities.
  • We subsequently met with Mayor Ray Nagin and
    decided to develop a plan for opening those
    schools on the West Bank only for November,
    pending the demand level shown by interested
    students. In the Mayors opinion, the Uptown
    District still does not have drinkable water and
    is resource-constrained regarding
    hospital/medical facilities and sewage capacity.
    The Mayor suggested we concentrate on the West
    Bank Schools for November and allow some time to
    lapse for Uptown and other areas, as the City
    brings back essential services in those areas
    more gradually than our November 2005 timeframe.
    We concur with the Mayor as our primary concern
    is the health and welfare of our students and
    employees.

21
Facilities and Maintenance (cont.)
  • Executive Summary (cont.)
  • The plan to repair the schools for a possible
    November re-opening has followed a multi-step
    process. First, the team quickly contacted
    several vendors to make emergency repairs, e.g.
    boarding up holes on the roof, boarding up broken
    windows, etc., in order to limit any further
    damage. Secondly, the team went back to the 16
    priority schools to perform detailed assessments
    where we quantified all repairs to be made.
    Simultaneously, we met with FEMA representatives
    several times to ensure that our documentation
    and level of detail was meeting their
    expectations.
  • The detailed assessments are in the process of
    being consolidated. We will send them to FEMA,
    who will subsequently create the Project
    Worksheets and initiate the process for future
    reimbursement. The detailed assessments are also
    being delivered to various General Contractors as
    part of an overall Request For Proposal (RFP) to
    determine who will make the repairs to the
    schools. In addition to identifying the General
    Contractor, the team has begun working with the
    Procurement team to develop Bid packages to
    address various other needs, including custodial,
    environmental, food services, transportation and
    waste removal.

22
Facilities and Maintenance (cont.)
  • Key Accomplishments
  • Developed plan for assessing damage to schools
    with intent of determining when to re-open
    schools.
  • Developed Facilities Maintenance Workplan to
    help focus our efforts for the coming weeks.
  • Assembled team to assess schools most likely to
    have received least damage. Team members
    included 6 members from the Council for Greater
    City Schools, UTNO representative, FEMA
    representatives, Johnson Controls, NOPS and AM
    resources.
  • Teams inspected 21 schools across the West Bank
    and Uptown districts.
  • Outcome of the inspection was the determination
    that the following 16 schools could be opened in
    the November time period West Bank schools
    (Behrman, Walker, Fischer, Eisenhower, Harte,
    Karr, Rosenwald and Henderson) and Uptown schools
    (Audobon, Banneker, Lusher Extension, Arthur
    Ashe, Badouin, McD 7 , Allen, McNair). As a
    note, Lusher Extension is now a Charter school
    for Tulane and therefore needs to be repaired by
    January 1st.
  • Facilities Maintenance workplan developed to
    guide team towards a November 1st school opening.
  • Paul L. and Frank gained access to Almonaster
    site on Tuesday, September 20th to obtain keys to
    schools. Keys had rust removed and were cleaned
    in order to utilize.
  • Following the prioritized school listing, Paul
    and Frank accessed schools to ensure rooms were
    open and to determine cases where rooms could not
    be opened.
  • Contacted military group in West Bank to assist
    in getting the 8 West Bank schools ready.
    Military will mow lawns, weed and pick-up
    garbage/debris.
  • Met with Johnson Controls on Tuesday, September
    20th to discuss short term and long term needs
    for the schools.
  • After gaining agreement on the 16 priority
    schools to re-open, the Facilities Maintenance
    team contacted the appropriate contractors to
    perform emergency repairs, e.g. close holes in
    the roof, board up broken windows, secure access
    to facilities, etc.
  • Met with FEMA (Michael Jacques) on Thursday,
    September 22nd to discuss project worksheet
    development process. Due to limited FEMA
    resource availability (re Hurricane Rita), Ron
    Leone, Amy Carbonette and Marty McFarland
    inspected schools, developed detailed assessments
    and then reviewed with Michael Jacques on Monday,
    September 26th to get his feedback on the
    content.
  • Amy, Ron and Marty performed detailed assessments
    of the 16 priority schools between Monday,
    September 26th Wednesday, September 28th
  • Met with Procurement to develop General
    Contractor bid.

23
Facilities and Maintenance (cont.)
  • Key Accomplishments (cont.)
  • Met with an Environmental Group (EEG) on
    Wednesday, September 28th to begin process of
    collecting key criteria to be included in the RFP
    package.
  • Met with Custodial Services Group (AME) on
    Wednesday, September 28th to begin process of
    collecting key criteria to be included in the RFP
    package.
  • Coordinated access to schools with Risk
    Management (Greg Risher) in order to allow for
    Insurance Adjuster reviews.
  • Coordinated access to schools with IT team to
    allow for them to perform detailed assessments.
  • Paul and Frank determined the number of external
    access points to the schools in order to plan for
    implementing a standard locking system.
  • Met with Johnson Controls on Friday, September
    30th to discuss HVAC issues per the 16 priority
    sites and performing an operational assessment to
    ensure were ready for school re-opening.
  • Performed a detailed assessment of the West Bank
    Transportation Depot to provide feedback to
    potential transportation companies, as well as to
    include repair needs in the General Contractor
    RFP.
  • Work Planned for Upcoming Weeks
  • Complete and distribute RFP packages to support
    the need for the General Contractor,
    Environmental group, Custodial Services, Waste
    Removal, HVAC and Transportation.
  • Confirm plan for implementing a standard locking
    system across the schools.
  • Develop and confirm a plan as to how we can best
    track the progress of the various providers who
    will soon begin work on the 16 priority schools.
  • Conduct QA calls and site visits with the
    various bidders.
  • Work with the Procurement to ensure we are
    following the correct process, i.e.
    documentation, approvals, etc.
  • Gather bids and select service providers.
  • Perform detailed assessment of fire alarm and
    intercom systems to determine needs.

24
Facilities and Maintenance (cont.)
  • Issues, Comments and Other
  • The priority issue for the team is the
    uncertainty as to the magnitude of the
    environmental issues. We have met with an
    environmental firm to understand the key
    activities to be performed in order to certify
    that schools are ready to be re-opened and will
    use this input as the basis for the RFP.
    Additionally, we will offer the opportunity for
    bidders to tour the facilities to better gauge
    the scope of work. These activities should
    provide further clarity, but at the moment, the
    scope, effort and costs of the environmental
    issue are not obvious.
  • Limited FEMA resource availability requires the
    Facilities Maintenance team to create the
    detailed contents, which will eventually be
    included in the project worksheets to be
    developed by FEMA Project Officers.
  • The team needs to relocate to New Orleans to more
    effectively oversee the work on the schools.
  • Need to expedite the RFP process to confirm the
    necessary providers, including the General
    Contractor, HVAC, Environmental Group, Custodial
    Services, Waste Removal, Food Services and
    Transportation.
  • Due to resource and financial constraints, the
    team has not begun the assessment of the
    remaining 95 schools and district facilities.
    Emergency repairs have not been initiated.
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