GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 378

Short Title:  GPAC-Reorganize Dept. of Public Instr. 	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: (by request) Representatives Robinson, Blue, Barnes, Diamont, Hackney, Hensley, H. Hunter, G. Miller, Nesbitt; and Colton.
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Appropriations.
─────────────────────────────────────── 

February 25, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AUDIT COMMITTEE TO REORGANIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
––-REORGANIZE DEPT. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
Section 1.  (a)	The General Assembly finds that certain functional groups in the Department of Public Instruction are not logically grouped and that this misgrouping results in unnecessary management positions and in resources spent unnecessarily on the coordination of activities. The Deputy State Superintendent has a span of control of eight, which is an excessive span of control.  The current structure injects an unnecessary layer of management between the State Superintendent and the Superintendent's most key senior managers; therefore:
(1)	The eight major areas that report to the Deputy State Superintendent are consolidated into the following three function groups:
a.	Program and Teacher Service – This group shall include Curriculum and Instruction, Vocational Education, Media Services, Student Services, and Exceptional Children, in Program Services; Transportation, Child Nutrition, School Planning, and Plant Operations in Auxiliary Services; Teacher Education, Teacher Certification, and Personnel Relations, in Personnel Services; and Supervision of the Technical Assistance Centers.
		The General Assembly finds that this consolidation increases coordination among the many consultant groups in the Department that deliver service to local school administrative units.  This structure also helps to support the transformation of service delivery recommended by the Government Performance Audit Committee.  Also, it establishes a link between the desired quality in programs and the teachers that deliver programs to students.
		The Assistant Superintendent positions that oversee Auxiliary Services and Personnel Services are reassigned to executive director level positions at the same salary level.
		The Elementary, Middle Grades, High School, and Administration Consultants that report to the Assistant Superintendent are transferred to the Curriculum and Instruction area, so as to reduce the number of professionals that report directly to the Assistant Superintendent over this group.
b.	Financial and Internal Support Services – This group shall include State Accounting Services, School Business Services, and Fiscal Control Services, in Financial Services; and Internal Operations, in the Deputy Superintendent's Office.  The General Assembly finds that Financial Services already handles the internal accounting and financial responsibilities of the Department and that all internal support services are consolidated by moving the personnel, purchasing, and mailroom responsibilities to this group.
c.	Research and Development Group – The General Assembly finds that this group should remain separate to focus attention on student and local school administrative unit performance standards and improvement.
(2)	Management Information Services (MIS) shall be organized as a separate unit reporting to the Deputy State Superintendent.  The General Assembly finds that placing this function at this level in the organization enables MIS to provide services effectively across the Department.  It improves access to information technology and should result in more valuable uses of information technology being developed for more programs.
(3)	The following functional areas throughout the Department shall be streamlined as follows:
a.	Because the group performs financial functions, the Public School Insurance group in Auxiliary Services are transferred to Financial Services.
b.	In order to consolidate and increase coordination of the Child Nutrition programmatic and financial audit functions, three Child Nutrition Auditor positions in the Child Nutrition group in Auxiliary Services are transferred to the Child Nutrition Audit group in Financial Reporting/Audit in the School Business Services area of Financial Services.
c.	Two ADM Auditors in the Student Information Management Area of Financial Services are transferred to the School Budgets group in Financial Services.  These auditors shall report to the School Budgets Chief Consultant.  Because school budget preparation is highly dependent upon ADM information, grouping these functions results in better coordination of information timing and flow.
d.	Two Exceptional Children ADM Auditors in the Student Information Management area of Financial Services are transferred to the Exceptional Children group in Program Services because Exceptional Children Consultants deal with exceptional children concerns on a daily basis and can provide valuable information to the ADM Auditors.  These two positions shall report to the Director of Exceptional Children.
e.	The Citizen Affairs Director position in Internal Operations is transferred to the communications group in the Superintendent's Office.
f.	In order to strengthen the user support function in MIS for users in local school administrative units, all employees in the Department that provide system support for MIS users in local school administrative units are grouped as follows:
1.	The Applications Programmer and Information Systems Coordinator positions in the Personnel Relations area of Personnel Services are transferred to MIS.  These positions shall continue to provide user support for the system that provides human resource data on employees of local school administrative units.
2.	A SIMS Special Project Manager, five SIMS user support positions, and one associated clerical position, in the Student Information Management area of Financial Services are transferred to Management Information Systems.  These positions shall continue to provide user support for the Student Information Management System.
3.	The Student Information Management Chief Consultant position and one associated clerical position are eliminated because all functions in Student Information Management have been transferred to other groups.
4.	The Information Center Unit is transferred to Financial Services because the statistical analysis the unit provides is most appropriately located in Finance.
(b)	The base budget of the Department of Public Instruction is reduced by eighty-six thousand one hundred ninety-seven dollars ($86,197) for the 1993-94 fiscal year and eighty-six thousand one hundred ninety-seven dollars ($86,197) for the 1994-95 fiscal year due to the decrease in personnel positions mandated by subsection (a) of this section.
(c)	This section becomes effective July 1, 1993.
––-STREAMLINE DPI MANAGEMENT.
Sec. 2. (a)	The General Assembly finds that the Department of Public Instruction has a number of management positions with narrow spans of control, which are management positions that manage fewer than six other positions.  In a number of cases, there are clusters of management positions with relatively few staff members reporting to them.  Many individuals in these management positions with narrow spans of control are spending at least forty percent (40%) of their time on supervision or managerial responsibilities.  Given the significant amount of time spent on supervision and the small numbers of staff supervised, there is excess management staffing; therefore, the following positions are eliminated from the Department of Public Instruction:
(1)	The Director of School Services and the Director of School Facilities, and three associated clerical positions;
(2)	The Budget Management Chief Consultant and the Financial Review Chief Consultant;
(3)	The Teacher Education Services Division Director and the LEA Personnel Services Division Director, and two associated clerical positions;
(4)	The Management Information Systems Assistant Director; and
(5)	The Personnel Management Chief Consultant and the Agency Services Chief Consultant, and two associated clerical positions.
Also, the Transportation Management Information System Project manager shall report to the SIMS Application Development Manager.
(b)	The base budget of the  Department of Public Instruction is reduced by six hundred eighty-nine thousand five hundred seventy-seven dollars ($689,577) for the 1993-94 fiscal year and six hundred eighty-nine thousand five hundred seventy-seven dollars ($689,577) for the 1994-95 fiscal year due to the decrease in personnel positions mandated by subsection (a) of this section.
(c)	This section becomes effective July 1, 1993.
––-ELIMINATE DPI POSITIONS.
Sec. 3.  (a)	The General Assembly finds that certain positions in the Department of Public Instruction are underutilized based on the amount of time spent on primary activities and that significant cost savings can be realized by consolidating these activities; therefore:
(1)	The Sports Medicine Director position and one associated clerical position in Auxiliary Services are abolished and their responsibilities are transferred to Healthful Living in the Curriculum and Instruction area of Program Services.
(2)	The two Desegregation Assistant positions and one associated clerical position in Auxiliary Services are abolished and their responsibilities are transferred to the Student Services area of Program Services.
(3)	The Education Planning and Development Consultant position in the Teacher Education area of Personal Services that coordinates activities of the Professional Practices Commission is abolished.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall transfer the responsibilities assigned to the position to other employees in Teacher Education or to members of the Professional Practices Commission.
(4)	The Education Consultant position in the Personnel Relations area of Personnel Services that handles the contract for the teacher fringe benefit package plan is abolished and the responsibilities assigned to the position are transferred to the Salary Administration group in Personnel Services.
(5)	The Education Consultant position in the Personnel Relations area of Personnel Services that works on local school administrative unit budget allocations for personnel resources is abolished and the responsibilities assigned to the position are transferred to the School Budget group in Financial Services.
(6)	The four Education Consultant positions and two associated clerical positions in the Personnel Relations area of Personnel Services that are primarily responsible for providing technical assistance to school districts regarding personnel policies are abolished.  One remaining Education Consultant in the Personnel Relations area of Personnel Services shall (i) inform and distribute information to local school administrative units regarding personnel policies and procedures, and (ii) assist with personnel decisions that are an exception to established policies and procedures.
(7)	One part-time and two full-time Consultant positions and one associated clerical position in the Management and Planning group in Internal Operations that coordinate Department of Public Instruction facility plans, social occasions, and other special projects, are abolished and the responsibilities assigned to the positions are transferred to the Superintendent's three clerical support positions.
(b)	The base budget of the Department of Public Instruction is reduced by seven hundred fifty-four thousand two hundred twenty-five dollars ($754,225) for the 1993-94 fiscal year and seven hundred fifty-four thousand two hundred twenty-five dollars ($754,225) for the 1994-95 fiscal year due to the decrease in personnel positions mandated by subsection (b) of this section.
(c)	This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.
––-REDUCE DPI CLERICAL POSITIONS.
Sec. 4.  (a)	As used in this section, the term "clerical position" means any nonprofessional positions that provide secretarial or administrative support to other employees, including Secretary, Administrative Assistant, and Clerk/Typist positions.  The term does not include positions that are clerical in nature but have specific functional responsibilities.
Except (i) in areas in which unusual demands are placed on clerical support positions, for the State Superintendent, and (ii) for Assistant Superintendent positions and Director positions that report directly to Assistant Superintendents, the Department of Public Instruction shall follow a one-to-five ratio of clerical to professional positions.  To achieve this ratio, the number of clerical positions in the Department is reduced by 90.5 in accordance with Exhibit 5 of the Issue Paper entitled "Organization and Staffing of Department of Public Instruction" of the North Carolina Government Performance Audit Committee.
(b)	The base budget of the  Department of Public Instruction is reduced by $__________________ for the 1993-94 fiscal year and $______________ for the 1994-95 fiscal year due to the decrease in personnel positions mandated by subsection (a) of this section.
(c)	This section becomes effective July 1, 1993.
––-ENHANCE DPI INTERNAL AUDIT.
Sec. 5.  (a)	There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Education, Department of Public Instruction, the sum of ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) for the 1993-94 fiscal year and the sum of ninety thousand dollars ($90,000) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to strengthen the internal audit function of the Department of Public Instruction.  The funds shall be used to add two auditor positions or to contract with the private sector for audit services.  The internal audit group shall perform operational and financial control functions for the State Superintendent and the State Superintendent shall use this group to obtain performance information and to address performance concerns.
(b)	This section becomes effective July 1, 1993.
––-DPI TAC ACTIVITIES.
Sec. 6.  (a)	The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall reorganize the activities of the Technical Assistance Centers so as to provide services more efficiently and effectively to the local school administrative units.  Personnel that perform development activities shall be located in Raleigh.  Personnel that provide coordination and monitoring activities and assistance and support to local school administrative units shall be located at the Technical Assistance Areas.
The Technical Assistance Centers shall coordinate the service groups offered at the centers.  They shall also serve as the first point of contact for services not offered at the centers and shall contact the appropriate consultants based in Raleigh on behalf of local school administrative units needing those services.
(b)	Of the funds appropriated to the Department of Public Education, Department of Public Instruction, for the 1994-95 fiscal year for personnel located in Technical Assistance Centers, the sum of five million one hundred twenty-two thousand six hundred seventy-five dollars ($5,122,675) shall be allocated to the local school administrative units. The local school administrative units shall use these funds to purchase from the Technical Assistance Centers assistance activities that are not provided to all units and that focus on specific needs of the units.  The Technical Assistance Centers shall continue to provide coordination and management activities to the local school administrative units without charge.
Effective July 1, 1995, local school administrative units may use one-half of the funds allocated to purchase assistance activities from the Technical Assistance Centers to purchase assistance activities from the centers or to hire consultants to provide the assistance activities.
Effective July 1, 1996, local school administrative units may use the funds allocated to purchase assistance activities from the Technical Assistance Centers to purchase assistance activities from the centers or to hire consultants to provide the assistance activities.
(c)	This section becomes effective July 1, 1993.