May Newsletter
GFOA Visit to DMPS
Des Moines Public Schools was pleased to have Shayne Kavanagh from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) visit our district offices on May 10 and 11. GFOA is a non-profit association of local government finance officials. Their mission is to advance good practices in financial management for all local governments. Shayne met with DMPS staff and administrators to understand why the district decided to utilize Lean, how the journey has gone thus far and the Lean culture we are striving to achieve. Lean is a continuous improvement methodology. It allows DMPS to evaluate and improve efficiencies and effectiveness within district processes by removing non-value added steps, maximizing use of current resources and engaging a team to work together toward a common goal. This is accomplished by defining the goal, sharing a path to achieve it, and motivating people to implement and sustain improvements. The interview results will be used to write a case study about DMPS’s use of Lean that will be shared with other school districts in GFOA’s magazine, Government Finance Review. |