Maintaining performance: Understanding the relationship between facility management and academic performance at K-12 schools in the State of Arizona

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of K-12 indirect facility maintenance and operation expense spending in Arizona and how the prioritization of work enables academic performance. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from more than 200 academic districts over a five-year period to measure the correlation between plant maintenance and operations and academic outcomes. A qualitative analysis provided an in-depth understanding of how routine work is prioritized. Findings: Results of the correlative model indicate that no positive relationship exists between academic performance and facility expense spending within the sample population. The lack of a positive correlation may be a result, in whole or in part, of many variables. The qualitative analysis, however, provided a more in-depth understanding of how academic districts manage educational facilities and how the prioritization of work may factor into a correlation. Originality/value: This paper addresses the link between academic performance, expressed in terms of a return-on-assets, and facility management. The contribution of this paper is the documentation of facility maintenance and operations organizational structures to include the method of prioritizing routine work and the process of indirect expense spending in support of K-12 public education in the state of Arizona.