Facilities Services

Maintenance Management

All school districts in Alaska are required to provide a maintenance program for school facilities that includes scheduled preventive maintenance. Under the Department of Education and Early Development’s CIP grant and debt reimbursement programs, school districts are not even allowed to submit capital project applications unless they can demonstrate that their facility and maintenance management programs meet certification requirements. Since 2002, SERRC has been successfully helping districts from around the state meet the challenge of complying with these sometimes confusing regulations, and we now serve more than half of the school districts in Alaska. Our goal is to serve as the go-to resource for you and your staff. We provide you with the services and information that you need to maintain a successful program, one that not only meets state standards, but also helps your district realize the economic benefits of a good preventative maintenance program.

SERRC realized early on that few districts had the personnel, experience, and time necessary to set up and maintain an effective Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) as required. To address this need, SERRC has put together an efficient and cost-effective CMMS solution. Our CMMS is based upon high-end enterprise level maintenance management software, but because most of our users (being maintenance personnel) are generally not computer power users, the user interface we have setup has been greatly simplified, allowing even the most inexperienced computer user to interact with the system over the internet with a minimum of training. The system tracks work orders, including labor and material costs, as well as other information mandated by state regulations. SERRC provides all of the facility and equipment setup and entry into the database, and we set up the work plans and preventive maintenance (PM) scheduling, eliminating much of the work that would normally be required for your district to get up and running.

With all of the other responsibilities your maintenance staff has, trying to keep up with and meet the regulatory and other requirements imposed by the state can be daunting for many districts. What really separates SERRC from other MMS systems and services is that our system comes with truly personalized service. We’re not just providing access to a piece of software. We’re here to answer your questions and to assist you with the entire process. We get to know your people and your program, and with our years of experience, you can be assured that the service and advice we offer is timely and relevant. SERRC works closely with EED staff to stay on top of their requirements and expectations so that the information we provide is accurate, and if something is changing, we can quickly adapt our system and services as needed. Because of this, our districts remain certified, and consistently achieve the maximum points possible for their maintenance reports on CIP grant applications.

Beyond the CMMS, SERRC also helps to keep your program compliant with the other aspects of EED maintenance certification. We have developed resources such as a custodial care plan that can be easily adapted to any facility, an energy consumption tracking system, and forms for documenting maintenance training that allow your staff to meet these requirements with a minimum of effort. We also prepare your annual renewal and replacement schedules. As EED onsite maintenance inspections approach, we work with your staff to point out deficiencies and potential problem areas, and offer suggestions for improvement based on our experience in having assisted other districts through this process many times. In addition, we include related services such as assisting with submittal and closeout information for projects that have already received CIP funding. These are all important components in keeping your district compliant with EED requirements and eligible to submit CIP applications, and are included as part of our normal service.

Many districts, especially those with limited staff sizes, have found that they have trouble maintaining their maintenance management program as personnel turnover occurs. Often the incoming person may not have held a management position previously, or may be new to Alaska. They may be faced with a number of new responsibilities with which they are not familiar. An additional benefit of SERRC’s program is that we help to provide a measure of continuity during those times. The institutional knowledge, training, and advice that we provide can substantially ease this burden, making the transition smoother, and allowing your new staff get up to speed more quickly and easily.