As of the 1995-96 school year, Durham Public Schools served just under 29,000 students in 42 schools and operated a total of 56 sites spanning 5.3 million square feet. In the course of the 1995-96 school year, the facilities department handled about 31,000 work orders and maintained 117 vehicles and 200 pieces of equipment. Mulheirn s budget problems look even more stark when compared to average costs in schools throughout North Carolina. For example, during the 1994-95 school year, the cost for electricity, gas and oil averaged 90 cents per square foot across the state. Durham Public Schools got by with 70.5 cents per square foot in that year and had to live with 67.5 cents in the 1995-96 school year.
Maintenance costs show the same pattern.
We haven t gotten more money to handle increased costs. So our goal has been to drive costs per square foot down, without cutting services. For instance, Mulheirn noticed that, in some of the schools, electricians changed the light bulbs and air filters. In some ways, you have to treat a school like your home. At home, if a light bulb burns out, you don t call the electrician, you simply change the light bulb.