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 Dr. Terry Grier, Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD),asked the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS)
1
to provide a high-level managementreview of the school system
‘
s Procurement Services Department.
2
Specifically, he requestedthat the Council
 — 
 
 
Review and evaluate the organization, leadership and management, and operations of 
the district‘s
Procurement Services Department.
 
Develop recommendations that would help the department achieve greateroperational efficiencies and effectiveness.In response to this request, the Council assembled a Strategic Support Team of seniorprocurement managers with extensive experience in other major city school systems acrossthe country. The team was composed of the following individuals. (Appendix A providesbrief biographical sketches of team members.)Robert Carlson, Project DirectorDirector, Management Services
 
Council of the Great City Schools
 
David Koch, Principal InvestigatorChief Administrative Officer (Retired)Los Angeles Unified School DistrictJoseph A. GomezAssistant Superintendent, Procurement Management Services (retired)Miami-Dade County SchoolsArthur S. Hanby, Jr.Strategic Sourcing and Contracts OfficerSan Diego Unified School District
1
The Council has conducted over 200 instructional, management, and operational reviews in more than 50 big-city school districts over the last 12 years. The reports generated by these reviews are often critical, but theyalso have been the foundation for improving the operations, organization, instruction, and management of manyurban school systems nationally. In other cases, the reports are complimentary and form the basis for
identifying ―best practices‖ for other urban school systems to replicate. (Attachme
nt E lists the reviews that theCouncil has conducted.)
2
The Council previously conducted a review of the HISD Facilities Services department in May 2010, itsCapital Facilities program in July 2010, and its Information Technology department in January of 2011. Thisprocurement review does not constitute a forensic audit but instead is a high-level review of departmentoperations.
Review of theProcurement Services Departmentof theHouston Independent School District
October 2011
 
Review of the Procurement Services Department of the Houston Independent School District
Council of the Great City Schools Page 2
Duane JohnsonChief Procurement OfficerLos Angeles Unified School DistrictChristopher SteeleSenior Director, Purchases & SupplyNorfolk Public SchoolsThe Council
‘
s team conducted fieldwork for the project during a four-day site visit toHouston on October 9-12, 2011. The general schedule for the site visit is described below. (Amore detailed working agenda for the site visit is presented in Appendix B.)The team met with the Houston superintendent, chief financial officer, chief of staff,controller, and interim general manager of procurement services on the first day of the sitevisit to discuss expectations and objectives for the review and to make final adjustments tothe work schedule. The superintendent described his concerns about the district
‘
sprocurement function and identified areas where he wanted the team to focus its attention.The team used the first two full days of the site visit to interview staff members andreview documents, reports, and data provided by the district. (Lists of individualsinterviewed and materials reviewed by the team are presented in Appendices C and D.)
3
Thefinal day of the visit was devoted to synthesizing and refining the t
eam‘s findings and
recommendations, and debriefing the superintendent, chief financial officer, chief operatingofficer, chief of staff, and controller.The Council sent a draft of this report to team members for their review to ensure itsaccuracy and to obtain their concurrence with the final recommendations. This managementletter contains the findings and recommendations designed by the team to help improveoperational efficiencies and effectiveness of the Houston school
district‘s
procurementservices department.
The Houston Independent School DistrictProcurement Services
 
Department
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texasand the seventh-largest in the United States. The school district operates 296 schools withapproximately 202,000 students, who are supported by almost 30,000 full- and part-timeemployees. The General Fund operating budget amounts to approximately $1.6 billionannually. The capital-facilities program of the district--included in the Capital RenovationFund--amounts to almost $1.1 billion with over $800 million from a 2007 bond issue, about
$150 million from ―
pay-as-you-go
‖
programs, and about $100 million from other capitalsources.
3
 
The Council‘s peer reviews are based on interviews of staff and others, a review of 
materials provided by thedistrict, observations of operations, and the t
eams‘
professional judgment. In conducting interviews the teamsmust rely on the willingness of those interviewed to be factual and forthcoming, but cannot always judge theaccuracy of statements made by interviewees.
 
Review of the Procurement Services Department of the Houston Independent School District
Council of the Great City Schools Page 3
The district is led by the superintendent of schools who reports to a nine memberelected board of education. The superintendent has ten direct line reports as shown in theHISD Organization Chart
 – 
August 2011 (Exhibit 1 below) and three staff positions (chief of staff, E-rate compliance officer, and general counsel).
Exhibit 1. HISD Organization Chart
 – 
August 2011
Source: Prepared by CGCS based on information provided by the HISD
The Procurement Services Department is headed by a General Manager who reportsdirectly to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As shown in the Procurement ServicesDepartment Organization Chart
 – 
December 2011 (Exhibit 2 below), the ProcurementServices General Manager has seven direct reports, who are classified as ProcurementManagers.In addition, five staff positions including the Web Content Administrator, WebDesigner, Customer Service Coordinator, Procurement Coordinator, and Team Leader forBusiness Operations report to the General Manager.
Superintendentof Schools
Chief CommunicationsChief MajorProectsChief ElementarySchoolsStaff Positions (3)Chief HumanChief AcademicOfficerChief FinancialOfficerChief OperatingOfficerChief MiddleSchoolsChief TechnologyOfficerChief HighSchools
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