District making improvements to construction management processes

The Dallas ISD administration is reviewing the district’s construction management processes with an eye to improving efficiency and project oversight. The goal is to ensure the district’s approach to investing future capital outlays is as efficient as possible.

One significant improvement under consideration is increasing the district’s capacity to supervise and direct projects.  This could include expanding contracts with program management firms. Currently, the Construction  Services department relies on several internal program managers and a relatively small team of external management firms for project oversight. Looking forward, plans call for adding expertise in that area and increasing the participation of minority-owned firms in bond and construction projects.

As one example of efficiency improvements, the department recently created a new bond project dashboard, which provides real-time data on all current and completed bond projects, including funding amounts, amounts spent, project status and project timelines. The dashboard, available at https://www.dallasisd.org/bond2015, is searchable by bond phase, campus and trustee district. Other improvements are planned in the short term.