School Daze

Andrea McLean, program director for Heery International, works in the company’s Seattle office guiding school administrators and staff through the process of selecting school furniture, fixtures, and equipment. She also provides move management services, helping to relieve the stress associated with moving an entire school, everything from books and computers, to Privacy filters for monitors, desks and chairs, to giant school mascots. We talk to McLean about the myriad tasks involved with getting a new school ready for students and staff, including her experiences and thoughts on how to successfully integrate furniture and educational design, planning for a move, and then actually taking a school from site A to site B.

Jay Schneider: When you work with schools on new equipment selection, how soon do you get involved in the project?

Andrea McLean: The best case scenario is helping out during the budget planning. Usually, the district develops its program and determines whether to set aside money for new equipment or use what they have.

During renovation projects, schools often say they don’t need to buy new equipment so they don’t set money aside. But, when the project is a new school, they usually set aside a certain amount to spend on FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment), usually a percentage of the construction value-somewhere between five and ten percent. The actual amount depends on how wealthy the district is.

JS: Are your services unique to the industry?

AM: Our services are very similar to interior design. A lot of interior design firms offer to do FF&E selection, but they don’t take it all the way through the process of procurement, delivery, installation, and move management. Interior designers often have vendors handle that part and it works for them-and a lot of vendors like it. Our approach is to provide [customers] with the entire gamut of services through a single source.

JS: Can you briefly explain what happens once a school hires you for a project?

AM: We basically follow the same phases a construction project follows. First is design-which we call concept planning and is similar to the process involved in designing a new building-then comes planning, procurement, tracking and delivery, installation, and then moving. Those are the six main components we offer. Schools can component shop, choosing any or all of our six services.

JS: When you speak at conventions and at other industry-related events, what are you most frequently asked? What is it that schools want to know and you think they should know?

AM: How furniture figures into classroom design is a great part of it. This year we’re talking about educational specifications and how furniture fits into that process.

We look at furniture as an important piece of the school because you can’t open the school without furniture. You can open a school with aspects of construction still unfinished, but you can’t open the school without the furniture.

People also ask us questions about what manufacturers we recommend, what vendors we recommend, that type of thing.

JS: What types of equipment are you choosing?

AM: Schools want something of quality that’s going to last, that’s ergonomically correct, and that will carry them through the next 20 years of educational needs.

Our biggest challenge is finding something that’s going to be suitable for education 20 years down the road. We forecast education trends and find suitable furniture. We need to make sure the life span [of the furniture] is enough so that, if trends change, the pieces can take them to at least the next level and everything won’t have to be replaced at once.

At one point several years ago, we thought there would be computers in every classroom and we thought they were going to be tower computers. But now, people are saying maybe the computers will be laptops so we don’t need those big computer-type desks-the footprint can be smaller. But, those desks for the tower computers are still functional. We use laptops daily at school so buying equipment such as a laptop cart is a necessity.

JS: How do you track those trends? Do you have an internal research department?

AM: We have a wonderful staff in our Atlanta office that does a lot of marketing and research for us. We also go to a lot of tradeshows and I can’t even tell you how many school conferences we go to-it’s tremendous. We go to the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) and to the National School Supply and Equipment Association (NSSEA) shows, so we’re constantly meeting people within our industry. We read publications, use the Internet, talk with vendors, and go to various districts to look at their schools.

CEFPI is really good about taking us on tours so we get to see schools we didn’t work on so we get to see what they’ve done and see their furniture. A lot of times we talk with the principals, ask them who they worked with, how they came up with their ideas, how it’s worked out, what they like, and other things. They are very gracious about it because everyone loves their school.

At the end of some of our projects, we go back a year or two later and ask what they thought of the furniture, how it’s holding up, and what they did and did not like about it.

JS: Has that feedback changed some of the things you now specify?

AM: Oh, absolutely. Because it’s not uncommon for things to change throughout the life of a program.

For example, in Seattle we started out putting five computer desks in every classroom because there were five wall outlets for them. Then it turned out that some teachers didn’t have five computers in their classrooms-some only had two and only wanted two-so they had three extra tables and wondered what to do with them.

What we commonly do now is give them two desks then ask if they need more. Those are just small adjustments we make, but they result in big savings over the long run. Three fewer desks save a lot of money and a lot of space-you walk into some classrooms and they’re quite full. Space is at a premium.

JS: Are there things you’ve talked people out of buying for whatever reason-they weren’t appropriate or wouldn’t last?

AM: Well, we did some product testing in Seattle based on ANSI/Bifma standards where we actually tried to destroy the furniture. (ANSI is the American National Standards Institute, which administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Bifma is the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association, which maintains safety and performance standards for furniture.) I want to be very clear that the tests we chose and the furniture we chose to test were very specific to Seattle-we just tested things the district had concerns about. We were not developing a big program to test every single piece of furniture. As a result of those tests, certain items were omitted from the bid process because they failed to meet the standards we established-which disappointed a few of the manufacturers.

We also have made recommendations to schools where one of the teachers or principals requested furniture that we didn’t think was appropriate for a grade level, such as a teacher requesting too large a chair for a first grade classroom. Often times we don’t say anything because we figure they know what size their kids are, but in some instances we’ll question them about something and make suggestions. It’s not that you question everything, you just say in “our experience those size kids are better off in such and such a chair. Are you sure you want one that size?” And, if they say yes, that’s what you get them.

JS: What are the most common mistakes you see schools making when procuring new equipment?

AM: I think there are two big things. The first thing is that schools wait until it’s too close to their opening and then say “school’s opening next week, now what?” I’ve seen that happen quite a few times. The second thing is that they don’t have someone on their staff to deal with procurement-it’s basically a fulltime job-so they take the easy way out and hand the principal a bunch of catalogs and say “we don’t care what you get. Just order it and don’t spend more than X amount of dollars.”

Principals don’t necessarily know if what they’re buying is a good price or good quality. Their job is to educate and take care of the kids, not to pick furniture. These poor principals, who already are overworked, are handed this catalog and they don’t know what to choose-everything says ergonomic or lists 62 kinds of adjustments and all they really want is a chair that goes up and down.

JS: If one of the biggest mistakes is waiting until the last minute to order furniture, how far in advance should equipment be ordered? What is an appropriate timeframe?

AM: The sooner you get your order in, the sooner you get in line for manufacturing and the better your chances of getting your stuff on time.

The bulk orders go in in March and April because everybody wants delivery in August. Since most manufacturers say it takes between four and eight weeks to manufacture the furniture-not factoring in a quick ship program, if they have one-you’ve got to allow for a little bit more lead time when ordering in March. You also should allow a couple of weeks for shipping.

JS: Do you then suggest schools order in February and then warehouse the furniture for a few months?

AM: Well, yes and no. I recommend ordering early-like in February-but requesting that manufacturers not ship the material until the school is ready for it. A district isn’t going to want to pay warehousing charges. Vendors also aren’t going to want to pay warehousing charges because they want to invoice material as soon as it’s shipped. If the district doesn’t install it and instead warehouses it, they aren’t going to want to pay for it. They’ll want to inspect it first and make sure it’s all there and in good condition.

What we suggest is to order as early as possible and request shipping two weeks-or however many weeks-before you need it. Then make installation arrangements.

JS: OK, I’ve asked you about the mistakes you commonly see schools making, what is it you see them doing correctly?

AM: Well, first of all, hiring us…

The fact that schools are taking a broader look is very encouraging to me. I see them taking a centralized approach to planning schools and supplying them with furniture and equipment. The idea is to consider how to apply furniture to all schools in order to meet as many needs as possible, instead of just filling a classroom.

You don’t want to see one school within a district having much nicer furniture and equipment than the others. The idea is to leverage the equity in the new school-use it as a showcase in an effort to encourage funding for other schools.

JS: What schools most often require your assistance? Elementary schools? High schools? Colleges?

AM: Everything. Usually it’s a district with a major construction program. We’ve worked with school districts with as few as one school project and as many as nine in one year-some were new schools and some were remodels-but nine separate sites within one district.

For higher education, our work has mostly been with their campus hospitals. For instance, at the University of Washington, the Harborview Medical Center is not on their campus but is part of their institution and we did all of the medical equipment and furniture for hospital. But, we look at that as a separate service line. We offer educational services and we also offer services in the medical market.

JS: You also provide move management services. What does it take to move an entire school?

AM: Moving into a school is quite a logistical feat and, basically, our role is the coordination of all the different activities and making sure everyone is playing their role.

First we define the entire scope of the move based on the four different groups of people affected by it. Those groups are the school staff; construction crews; people attached to the district but don’t work in the school, such as the custodial services administrators and the nutritional services administrators; and the people who do the physical move.

We put together a scope of work that defines the roles and responsibilities for each of these groups. We outline schedules, expectations, and other items. For instance, if you’re organizing a move into a new school where the floors are still being waxed, you need to coordinate with custodial services to determine when the floor wax goes down so you don’t scratch up the floor and you need to contact the movers and/or the vendors and make sure they provide floor protection. The biggest thing is coordinating all parties and making sure that every step of the way, everyone knows what’s going on because everyday it can change-and does change.

Another big portion of the job is putting together the bid package so movers understand the scope of work and you get more accurate bids. The goal is to open the school on time without stepping on toes-or stepping on as few toes as possible-because usually things will go wrong. Things will get broken. Things will get lost. Sometimes we upset neighbors because we temporarily barricade streets to allow moving vans to go through. There are a lot of access issues too. We need to make sure the movers don’t pull on to the playground, for example, if the concrete won’t support the weight of a moving van.

JS: Are schools prepared for the amount of work involved in a move?

AM: They’re always surprised. But, once again, they’re working full time on educating kids. Moving is the last thing they want to deal with.

JS: Is there anything you recommend schools not move?

AM: Well, districts usually have their own standards on what can or cannot be moved. What I’ve seen is a lot districts not moving science projects-dissection subjects in formaldehyde and similar things. Paints also can’t be moved.

We don’t ask movers to move flammable or hazardous materials. A hazardous materials contractor comes in and either disposes of the material or moves it to the new sight.

Often times, stuff is stored in trailers over the summer because everything has to be moved out of the old school but the new school isn’t ready to be moved into yet. Hazardous materials can’t sit in trailers all summer. And, it’s not only because of heat, but often times we have squatters living underneath the trailers and you don’t want them lighting fires under flammable and hazardous materials.

JS: Once at the new facility, do you help with setup? I understand that you hire people from a temp agency to help out?

AM: Ah, yes. We call them “Roadies.” What they do is help get the old school ready for renovation or demolition. Our goal is to leave the school clean. We make sure all papers are off the bulletin boards and we broom sweep the facility.

When a school is vacated and is going to be knocked down, often times the contractor hires a salvage company to come in and salvage things like handrails, doors, locks-basically whatever it is the company wants to salvage. We make sure there’s nothing in there to get contaminated if, for example, the salvage crews pull up floorboards and discover asbestos underneath. If there’s garbage in the room, the garbage is automatically contaminated and you have to pay extra to have the garbage hauled away.

On the move-in side, we don’t pay Roadies to unpack boxes because that’s what we pay the movers to do. But, if a teacher decides they don’t like the way the room is organized-we pay installers to come in and place furniture the way it was designed to be placed-we’ll get Roadies to move desks and things around until the teacher is happy with it.

JS: What is the average timeframe with which you work? How much time do you give schools to be out of one facility and into another?

AM: Typically what we do is start working with a school in January of the year they’re going to move. We talk to them about the need for surplusing and we suggest they go to their PTSA (Parent/Teacher/Student Organization) and ask for volunteers to help teachers and staff go through everything and everywhere. That includes common areas, behind the boiler room, school attics-we’ve found some really cool stuff in attics-and all the other places people shove stuff they meant to deal with. We encourage recycling and throwing things away. We suggest that if something hasn’t been used in three years, it should be thrown away.

Cleanup continues for several months and as the school year approaches its end, we only ask to pack up early those areas with large amounts of items in them, such as the library-obviously one or two librarians can’t be responsible for packing an entire library because they would be there forever. We respect the fact that students need to finish their education and we don’t want to be in their way.

JS: What are the biggest mistakes you’ve seen schools make when moving?

AM: Not being prepared for a move. We’ve had a couple of situations where a school says to us “we need to be out of here in 10 days and we don’t have a bid. Can you help us put something together so we can at least get thorough quotes?” And we have provided them with sample scopes so they can go to their movers and ask for a quote.

JS: Do you have any stories about situations that, at the time weren’t funny, but you can now laugh about?

AM: We have a ton and every year we get a whole new set.

I think one of the funniest ones was when we got a call from a high school principal who wanted the school mascot’s head, which was still at the interim site, moved to the new school. We didn’t realize it had historic significance and thought they’d just put up a new one. The mascot’s body was stored somewhere else, but the head was installed way, way up toward the top of the gym. The people taking it down almost fell off the ladder like six times-the head was so huge and unwieldy-and it was scary watching them remove it. We finally get it down and get it moved-it was difficult to move because it was so big-only to discover it was too big for the new gym!

We put move managers at every school-usually college kids looking for summer work-who take a school from move out to move in and by the end of the summer they pick up some great stories. At the end of the moves, we take them all out to lunch, they tell their stories, and we are in tears because they’re so funny. Just bizarre stories. We all look forward to hearing those stories at the end of the move.