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City of Framingham and Framingham Public Schools: Review of Organization and

Collaboration

March 2021

Organizational Study of Framingham City and School Collaboration Page 2 Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management

Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Background ............................................................................................................................................... 3

Scope and Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 5

Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Findings and Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 7

Summary ................................................................................................................................................... 7

Human Resources ................................................................................................................................... 11

Payroll ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

Purchasing ............................................................................................................................................... 22

Technology Services ................................................................................................................................ 25

Appendices .................................................................................................................................................. 29

Appendix A: City Administration and Finance Organizational Chart ...................................................... 29

Appendix B: School District Finance and Operations Organizational Chart ........................................... 30

Appendix C: School District Technology Organizational Chart ............................................................... 31


INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

Framingham, Massachusetts is a city of 73,123 people located in Middlesex County in the MetroWest region of Greater Boston. The City is approximately 19 miles west of Boston and approximately 20 miles east of Worcester, and is bisected by Interstate 90, also known as the Massachusetts Turnpike. Originally within the homeland of the Nipmuc people, it was first settled by Europeans in 1647 when John Stone established a presence on the banks of the Sudbury River near the Old Connecticut Path. The Old Connecticut Path preceded Massachusetts Route 9, which runs approximate to the historical path. Framingham became officially incorporated as a Town in 1700 and derives its name from the town of Framlingham in Suffolk County, England. Other major highways other than the Mass Pike and MA Route 9 include MA Routes 30, 126, and 135. Additionally, Framingham is serviced by Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited service to Boston and Chicago, and the MBTA along the Framingham/Worcester Line, which connects South Station in Boston to Union Station in Worcester. Additionally, CSX provides freight rail service. MassPort offers the Logan Express for direct bus service to Logan International Airport in Boston, Peter Pan Bus Lines provides service to Boston, Worcester, and New York City, and the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) offers regional bus service to neighboring communities. Framingham is the 14th largest community in Massachusetts and has a significant mix of commercial and industrial development. Residential properties make up approximately 62% of the municipal tax levy, while commercial/industrial/personal property makes up approximately 38% of the tax levy. In FY2019, Framingham’s mix of property taxes accounted for approximately 72% of revenues while state aid made up less than 22% of revenues. Due to the City’s enviable position in the Greater Boston region as a halfway point between Worcester and Boston proper, it has been able to attract and retain significant businesses ranging from Staples Corporate HQ, Bose Corporation, Philips Lifeline, Wegmans, Medtronic, REI, Health Drive Corporation, and Jack’s Abby Brewery. Historically, Framingham had the interesting distinction as being the largest community in Massachusetts to make use of the town form of government and had come to be known by locals as the “largest town in the country”. Framingham attempted to become a city in 1993, 1997, and in 2013, but each effort was voted down by residents. However, in 2017 the Framingham Charter Commission recommended and voters approved its decision to become a City, which became effective January 2018. The first elected Mayor now represents a community of over 73,000 residents and 26.5 square miles. The move to city government made sense: a community of Framingham’s size and scale made city government more attractive, and also necessitated a hard look at how to best collaborate across departmental lines. By 2019, total wages and salaries for municipal workers amounted to nearly $135 million and total full time and equivalent employees amounted to 3,484 workers across various departments. Framingham has 15 public schools which are part of the Framingham Public School District, including Framingham High School, Thayer Campus of Framingham High School, three middle schools (Walsh, Fuller, and Cameron), nine elementary schools (Barberi, Brophy, Dunning, Hemenway, King, McCarthy, Potter Road, Stapleton, Woodrow Wilson), and the Blocks Pre-School. The City’s Administration and Finance


Division is composed of five departments: Accounting, Assessing, Purchasing, Technology Services and the Treasurer/Collector. The City employs approximately 700 municipal employees, with approximately 1,500 School District staff and 9,000 students enrolled in the District. As the Mayor articulates in her budget message, when the COVID pandemic began, the CFO’s Office initiated the disaster recovery measures to be able to process payroll, accounts payable, and operate the purchasing process in a completely remote fashion. The procedures allow for fully electronic bidding for city projects and services; electronic approval of city warrants for payroll and operating spending, and processing payroll time and attendance for both the School Department and all City payrolls. Additionally, after a failure to renew the lease for or purchase the Perini building for the use of the School Department, administrative staff were relocated to ad hoc office space in several school buildings. The District plans to relocate the administrative staff to the Farley building during the 2021-2022 year. Areas for collaboration are detailed throughout this report, but the need for virtual tools to collaborate has taken on an outsize importance in the current climate.


SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

The City of Framingham1 contracted with the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston to analyze collaboration between City departments and the School District and make recommendations for improvements. The project was funded at no cost to the City as a result of Community Compact grant funding provided by the Baker-Polito administration in an effort to increase the use of best practices in local government. The initial findings regarding coordination of human resources (HR) and payroll functions were presented in 2017. Subsequently, the information technology (IT) and procurement functions were evaluated through another set of interviews in February and March 2020. It is hoped that this study can help the staff in the City and School departments consider and prioritize organizational improvements that will help streamline their efforts, and the project team notes that, as of October 2020, many of the HR and payroll recommendations have been implemented. As part of the effort to review departmental collaboration, the Center’s project team:

Interviewed key City and School staff;

Reviewed City and School Department organizational structures as understood via the interviews; and

Researched best practices.

1 When this project began, Framingham was a Town, but for the purposes of this report, Framingham will be referred to as a City throughout the text.


OVERVIEW

Through staff interviews and analysis of available data, the project team observed a number of strengths and challenges in the departments. Strengths:

1. Dedicated staff committed to the success of the City and School District; 2. Significant investments in technology infrastructure by the City and School District; 3. Increasing communication between divisions on an ad hoc basis; and 4. A leading municipality in open data and disaster recovery.

Challenges/Areas for Improvement:

1. A lack of clarity relative to some roles and responsibilities leading to potential duplication of efforts and/or gaps in work performed;

2. Large number of pay cycles, pay periods, and positions in the School District which generate significant complexity for payroll processing;

3. Need for linkages between software systems to avoid duplication of data entry and potential human errors; and,

4. Limited use of software technology to facilitate payroll processing.


FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Findings & Recommendations Summary Table

Page Finding Recommendation

Human Resources Findings & Recommendations

Page 11

Page 13

Finding 1: There is a lack of clarity between City Finance, City Human Resources (HR), and School HR as to roles and responsibilities for payroll and personnel functions. Finding 2: There has been considerable staff realignment/ reassignment during the past 12-18 months resulting in many staff in payroll and personnel who do not have deep experience in their roles and/or who are experiencing an annual cycle of school year activities for the first time.

Recommendation 1.1 Leadership of the three departments involved should institute regularly scheduled staff meetings with defined agendas every two weeks to keep their efforts aligned and to plan for seasonal events. Recommendation 1.2 Meeting topics should include analysis of decisions/responsibilities where bright lines of responsibility are unclear. This includes FMLA, MLOA, and health insurance at minimum. Recommendation 1.3 Departments need to clarify in writing who takes responsibility for actions where multiple units may need to communicate with employees and/or receive feedback from employees. Specifically, they need to clarify when School HR is the conduit or when City HR/payroll/benefits takes the initiative. Recommendation 1.4 Departments need to strengthen/develop on-board protocols with outlined steps and calendar. Recommendation 1.5 City and School staff should receive additional direct training on Talent Ed, SchoolSpring, and MUNIS to learn about what data can be gathered from these systems. Much of this can be achieved by having internal “power users” train other staff. Recommendation 1.6 Leadership should initiate a review of paper forms to see which can be eliminated now that there are electronic hiring systems in place. Recommendation 2.1 Allow/Assign City Payroll staff to work from School HR offices on a regular schedule. Recommendation 2.2 Team building needs to be stressed, with a focus on customer service in the context of effective management. Recommendation 2.3 Multiple City/School staff should be trained in similar tasks to ensure back-up when necessary.


Page 15

Finding 3: While the City and School District have invested a considerable amount in the MUNIS and KRONOS systems, departments are operating other software applications for managing document tracking (Talent Ed.), personnel (School Spring, AESOP), and payroll functions (E-FMLA).

Recommendation 2.4 Implement a training program to provide a wide view of the complete responsibilities of all involved. Recommendation 3.1 The City and School District should conduct a “Systems Audit” to establish which systems (outside of MUNIS and KRONOS) best meet the needs of the multiple departmental users to verify and validate the data which will be input into the MUNIS General ledger. Recommendation 3.2 Each unit should review their applications to see the ease of use by the “other departmental users”.

Payroll Findings & Recommendations

Page 17

Page 19

Finding 4: The submission of payroll data for school based personnel (i.e., teachers, aides, supervisors, support staff, etc.) does not have proper oversight and controls. Finding 5: Submission of City departmental payroll is inconsistent across departments.

Recommendation 4.1 Employees should certify their attendance/hours either electronically or in writing, and the resulting data should be certified/approved by a supervisor prior to submission to City Payroll. Recommendation 4.2 The School District should standardize how attendance is monitored at school sites. At a minimum, an attendance log - where staff record their hours and include their signature - should be instituted at every school site. Recommendation 4.3 A written protocol should be developed and followed at all school sites that requires employees to affirmatively acknowledge the time worked during the week and the type(s) of leaves taken. Employee signatures (electronic or hardcopy) should be required. Recommendation 4.4 Certified/Approved data (attendance/hours) for payroll should be entered by school clerical staff directly into MUNIS payroll and forwarded electronically to City payroll. Recommendation 4.5 Over the longer term, the School District should move to direct entry of time and attendance. Recommendation 5.1 In the short term, train all City departments how to input time and attendance data directly into MUNIS. Require departments to submit a hard copy of the


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Finding 6: Multiple bargaining unit contracts negotiated over many years and many negotiation cycles have led to inconsistent rules for employee pay and benefits varying by pay classification and service interpretation. Finding 7: Progress has been made in the use of the Employee Self Service (ESS) facilities of the MUNIS payroll system.

payroll with signature by the department director or other authorized management personnel prior to processing the payroll. Recommendation 5.2 Over the longer term, require City departments to use the KRONOS system to allow for direct, timely, straight-forward electronic capture of time worked and maintenance of accrual information. Recommendation 6.1 City and School HR should set a long term goal to standardize contract language for pay and benefits for efficient/effective practice in order to reduce the number of different pay types and periods. Recommendation 7.1 The City and School District should strive to become increasingly paperless in the processing and recording of employee payroll data and should extend ESS to additional City departments and School District personnel.

Purchasing Findings & Recommendations

Page 22

Page 23

Page 24

Finding 8: The Chief Procurement Officer is responsible for procuring goods and services for both the City and School District. Finding 9: Technology procurement remains largely separate in practice and hardware purchases are not jointly planned. Finding 10: Phone system technology

between the City and School District is

not connected.

Recommendation 8.1 Continue to explore technology options to enable remote collaboration. Recommendation 9.1 The City and School District should outline a technology purchase policy that involves both divisions earlier in the process. Recommendation 10.1 The City and School District should explore whether a shared and connected phone system would allow for both more efficient communication.

Technology Services Findings & Recommendations

Page 25

Finding 11: Progress has been made through the communication channel of the Veritime working group.

Recommendation 11.1 The City and School District should continue this working group relationship even after the software implementation is complete.


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Page 27

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Finding 12: Interaction between the City and School District lacks consistency. Finding 13: Most of the City’s Software maintenance and license renewals are centralized under IT. Finding 14: There is no process in place for removing users from various systems.

Recommendation 12.1 The City and School District Technology Services in particular, should implement a working group designed to address technology issues and collectively plan for capital improvements and upgrades. Recommendation 12.2 Establish a process of collaboration by role, rather than relying on individual relationships. Recommendation 13.1 The City and School District should continue to centralize software management through Technology Services. Recommendation 13.2 The initial purchase of technology services would benefit from collaboration early in the process. (See: Recommendation 9.1). Recommendation 14.1 A formal process for termination of employment should be put in place and include a notification to Technology Services.


HUMAN RESOURCES

Finding 1: There is a lack of clarity between City Finance, City Human Resources (HR), and School HR as to roles and responsibilities for payroll and personnel functions. During the course of interviews, the project team learned that there is a lack of clarity about tasks and responsibilities across/between departments. The School Department is the largest department in Framingham, as it is in most municipalities. It has contracts and pay/hiring cycles which are different from other municipal departments. This results in the need to handle many on-boarding and payroll actions in a manner different from those exercised in other municipal departments. However, the School Department relies on municipal operations for final payroll, treasury, and benefits functions. This is considered a best practice, as it eliminates for duplicate departments, but to be successful, municipal staff need to be cognizant of School Department cycles/actions that are different from “normal” municipal cycles/actions. Recommendation 1.1: Leadership of the three departments involved should institute regularly scheduled staff meetings every two weeks with defined agendas to keep their efforts aligned and to plan for seasonal events. Agendas should focus on common topics and/or preparation for seasonal events (e.g., bill heads for stipends, actions for new hires in anticipation of new school year, etc.) that arise semi-annually or annually. Senior staff should be in attendance for at least the first three months of the school year on a regular basis. An all-hands staff meeting should occur at least once in the summer to prepare for upcoming new school year. The City’s Chief Financial Officer and Human Resources Director, and the School Department’s Human Resources Director are the three key leaders to initiate and maintain the initiative in collaboration and team building. Their participation will send the strong message to staff of their commitment to working together as a team. Attendees should also include unit supervisors and team leaders that manage different aspects of payroll and human resources.

Recommendation 1.2: Meeting topics should include analysis of decisions/responsibilities where bright lines of responsibility are unclear. This includes FMLA, MLOA, and health insurance, at minimum. Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Medical Leave of Absence (MLOA), and health insurance require inputs from School and City officials. For example, if a School employee has been absent for a significant amount of time, staff will need to recognize the situation and reach out to them to encourage them to complete the FMLA paperwork. This paperwork will then need to be recorded in the School HR Department and processed through the City HR Department. Questions have arisen regarding who should make the determination that FMLA is appropriate and who should reach out to and follow up with the employee. Clarification is needed. In addition, the team should discuss and document the decision-making process around exceptions to normal practice. In any organization, there will always be outliers/anomalies which occur from time to time, but they should be treated as such. Failure to plan for exceptions could result in gaps where one individual thinks another is responsible and vice versa.


Recommendation 1.3: Departments need to clarify in writing who takes responsibility for actions where multiple units may need to communicate with employees and/or receive feedback from employees. Specifically, they need to clarify when School HR is the conduit or when City HR/payroll/benefits takes the initiative. The project team observed that certain on-boarding and leave/payroll adjustment/benefit calculation functions require data from multiple sources, and that at times staff responsibilities overlapped. Staff expressed frustration that interdepartmental response time was not always timely to get resolution prior to regular payroll deadlines. In addition, when contact with an employee is necessary, the lines of communication are not always clear. Best practice indicates that generally School HR should be the primary direct line to School staff. Recommendation 1.4: Departments need to strengthen/develop onboard protocols with outlined steps and calendar. The project team received feedback that slow paperwork from School sites – especially related to new hires – frequently put at risk the ability of HR to have new hires in pay status for the beginning of the school year. Principals need to be included in the accountability loop as they are often the hiring authority causing the delay in initiating hiring action. A calendar is needed to make sure that principals, who are getting ready for the start of a new school year, understand what materials are due when, and how failure to submit materials timely can adversely impact a new employee. Recommendation 1.5: City and School staff should receive additional direct training on Talent Ed, SchoolSpring, and MUNIS to learn about what data can be gathered from systems. Much of this can be achieved by having internal “power users” train other staff. The City and School District have invested in multiple systems designed to facilitate recruitment, hiring, and payroll, and they now need to invest the time necessary to maximize these systems’ value. Multiple staff in each organization should have a strong working understanding of how the systems work, so that work can be distributed and, if an employee leaves, knowledge of the system does not depart with them. In addition, the project team received feedback that each department has frequently implemented/adapted systems to meet their priority needs without input of how the change might impact other departments/units. A review of system impact on each unit will allow small adjustments to input/output formats and functions to maximize the value of systems for all units. Recommendation 1.6: Leadership should initiate a review of paper forms to see which can be eliminated now that there are electronic hiring systems in place. The project team has frequently observed that institutional inertia can lead to organizations continuing old practices even when new practices/systems are introduced. An intentional review of “current practice” and paperwork in light of “automated” electronic improvements should lead to the elimination of “old” practices that are slower or more cumbersome than newer systems.


Finding 2: There has been considerable staff realignment/reassignment during the past 12-18 months, resulting in many staff in payroll and personnel who do not have deep experience in their roles and/or who are experiencing an annual cycle of school year activities for the first time. The payroll process in Framingham is complex, as evidenced by the comprehensive 70 page manual (created by the City Payroll Manager) which documents the process. Under the best of circumstances, Payroll staff perform extensive checking (time permitting) to verify the reasonability of the time and attendance information received. The need for such checks is only increased when a number of personnel are new to their roles and data is submitted largely on paper. At present, cooperation and collaboration between departments appears to be lacking. The project team observed that many/most of the key City payroll/benefits staff were new to their positions within the past year or so, as were certain key School Department HR staff. The result has been for staff to learn their functions but to not observe the larger context of how they fit into the big picture. This is normal and understandable, but it leads to confusion and or resentment between/among units, as some staff believe that they are doing the work that others should be doing. Recommendation 2.1: Allow/Assign City Payroll staff to work from School HR offices on a regular schedule. The School Department has set aside an office within the School HR suite for City payroll staff to work on site. The office is equipped with desktop computers networked for all work applications needed by Payroll staff. One goal of this co-location should be to establish stronger lines of communication and team building (e.g., “we're all in this together”) between two departments that currently struggle to have clear lines of responsibility for tasks/actions. Ambiguity on certain tasks at certain times (or situations) will always remain, but a stronger sense of team spirit will lead to less staff frustration and better customer service. This relocation could be implemented intra-payroll cycle and/or one Payroll Coordinator at a time. School employment contracts which cover the multiple bargaining groups and a large number of personnel classifications have yielded an array of pay cycles and payroll timelines, and significant variability between/among bargaining units/payroll classifications that require differentiated interpretations. Co-locating City Payroll staff and School HR will allow School HR to immediately address/provide training on inconsistent contract issues. Recommendation 2.2: Team building needs to be stressed, with a focus on customer service in the context of effective management. Additional time training as a group will lead to a better understanding of how to deal with cross departmental ambiguities. An improved spirit of teamwork will lead to a more fulfilling work environment and improved service for constituents. Recommendation 2.3: Multiple City/School staff should be trained in similar tasks to ensure back-up when necessary. The project team observed that a number of staff have moved to new roles within their department or have transferred to another department. This should provide a foundation upon which additional cross training can occur. Any organization is stronger when multiple people know how to perform the same functions, as it reduces reliance on any one individual, provides an opportunity for new process ideas to


be developed and tested, and will allow staff to comfortably take needed leaves without feeling concerned that processes will not continue in their absence. It is also important to understand that the School Department will experience high demand during peak periods and that cross training will allow all department to be equipped to deal effectively with this demand. Recommendation 2.4: Implement a training program to provide a wide view of the complete responsibilities of all involved. One option is the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s “Boot Camp for MMA,” which covers a number of HR-related topics. The MMA may be willing to offer a more Framingham-specific training, if requested. It appears that City HR is positioned to lead this initiative. The Center could also customize a program for Framingham, if the MMA’s offerings do not work for the City.


Finding 3: While the City and School D have invested a considerable amount in the MUNIS and KRONOS systems, departments are operating other software applications for managing document tracking (Talent Ed.), personnel (School Spring, AESOP), and payroll functions (E-FMLA). Many of these systems have been installed without inter-departmental communication related to optimization of work flow. These systems contribute to recruitment, hiring, onboarding, time and attendance, and payroll processing, including:

• Talent Ed – Human resource information system for the Schools, supports the hiring process;

• School Spring – Recruiting network, used to post jobs and have them reviewed by potential candidates online;

• AESOP - Schools substitute management system;

• E-FMLA – distribution of forms and tracking of family leave usage;

• MUNIS - City-wide enterprise financial and payroll system; and

• KRONOS - Time and attendance system used by selected City departments. Recommendation 3.1 The City and School District should conduct a “Systems Audit” to establish which systems (outside of MUNIS and KRONOS) best meet the needs of the multiple departmental users to verify and validate the data which will be input into the MUNIS General ledger. The School District recently acquired a time and attendance system (Veritime) from software vendor Frontline, joining a number of other Frontline software products currently in place managing human resources (TalentEd) and substitutes (Aesop). With planned implementation of this system, the following outcomes are expected:

All human resource functions are to be electronic with the use of TalentEd software using the Perform, Record and Recruit and Hire modules;

The substitute management system (Aesop) will manage the substitute process and derive teacher attendance; and,

For non-teachers, plans are to use the Veritime system and capture time and attendance biometrically via time clocks. This involves 500 School District employees. Employees will indicate start and end of work by job type/paycode.

A pilot operation of the Veritime system was planned to start September 2017 with Food Service and Building and Grounds employees. A two- to three-month pilot operation was scheduled, followed by later stages for paraprofessionals, administrative employees and secretaries. All staff are expected to eventually use the system, and the Veritime Working Group remains in place. School and City staff are to be complemented for this initiative. Attention will need to be paid to help employees adapt to the new process successfully and enthusiastically so that resistance does not build as other units are added. Recommendation 3.2: Each unit should review their applications to see the ease of use by the “other departmental users.” The project team has learned that departments have designed systems to meet their needs, but the structure/design may not optimize data acquisition for other units (e.g., Talent Ed for payroll). A stated justification for the Schools’ acquisition of the Frontline time and attendance software (rather than using the existing Kronos software) is that by being sourced from one vendor, the individual applications will be


part of an integrated human resource/attendance solution and that with integration, a specific data item need only be entered once and all applications/products are updated (the School District should verify that this is the case). City and School IT staff should work with all three departments after implementation of Frontline to determine if the stated integration and operational goals have been met.


PAYROLL

Finding 4: The submission of payroll data for school-based personnel (i.e., teachers, aides, supervisors, support staff, etc.) does not have proper oversight and controls. Payroll data is submitted by School clerical staff on Excel spreadsheets directly to the City payroll office, without signature from a principal or other management personnel responsible for providing administrative oversight or quality review. This data may be attendance for exception payrolls or hours for hourly employees. This data forms the basis for pay/compensation. Attendance by teachers, instructional assistants, and paraprofessionals is documented via the AESOP system, which is used to call for substitutes when teachers or aides will be absent. As a result, it captures teacher absences for tracking of leave taken and inclusion in payroll. However, other school site personnel, such as principals and support staff, do not have a similar call-in system that documents their time. Attention should also be gives to “Additional Compensation” for Teachers – which is referred to in Framingham as “Bill Heads.” While teachers do not receive “overtime” due to the contractual definition of their job, they may be authorized to work on an additional assignment which usually comes with a stipend, or other compensation. Oversight on the pre-authorization of pay for this additional work is needed. In addition, authorization for pay needs to be approved and validated by the School Department prior to submission to payroll. Recommendation 4.1: Employees should certify their attendance/hours either electronically or in writing, and the resulting data should be certified/approved by a supervisor prior to submission to City Payroll. With the planned implementation of the Frontline/Aesop/Veritime software all time should be subject to approval electronically by supervisors/school principals. Recommendation 4.2: The School District should standardize how attendance is monitored at school sites. At a minimum, an attendance log - where staff record their hours and include their signature - should be instituted at every school site. In the absence of an electronic time an attendance system, an assessment should be undertaken to determine whether each school site has a log of some type that an employee must sign to indicate his or her attendance. Absent this, on-site payroll staff must keep track of the comings and goings of staff each week, and they may not be in personal contact with everyone whose time must be input. This can easily allow for overpayment when an absence is missed. With planned implementation of the Frontline Aesop substitute management and Veritime time and attendance systems, attendance for teachers will be indicated as a result of the need for a substitute and time for non-teachers will be obtained directly/biometrically via timeclocks.

Recommendation 4.3: A written protocol should be developed and followed at all school sites that requires employees to affirmatively acknowledge the time worked during the week and the type(s) of leaves taken. Employee signatures (electronic or hardcopy) should be required.


With planned implementation of the Frontline Aesop substitute management and Veritime time and attendance systems, attendance for teachers will be indicated as a result of the need for a substitute and time for non-teachers will be obtained directly/biometrically via timeclocks. Training, with written instructions, should be provided to all staff using Frontline Aesop. Recommendation 4.4: Certified/Approved data (attendance/hours) for payroll should be entered by School clerical staff directly into MUNIS payroll and forwarded electronically to City payroll. School clerical staff should replace data entry into Excel spreadsheets with data entry into MUNIS. As a result, City Payroll staff will receive pre-populated payroll material in MUNIS and move from performing data entry functions into a focus on quality control and verification of issues related to exceptions. With implementation of the above systems the School District should also provide for direct electronic interface with the MUNIS payroll system of both employee data (both establishing new employees and updated employee payroll related information) and time and attendance data. This will eliminate the re-entry of data at the Payroll Department. Recommendation 4.5: Over the longer term, the School District should move to direct entry of time and attendance. As noted earlier, the phased implementation of the Frontline system should be handled very carefully so that employees become supportive of the new system and resistance does not occur. At times, potentially useful electronic systems fail due to employee opposition to change, at considerable cost to the implementing organization.


Finding 5: Submission of City departmental payroll is inconsistent across departments. Some departments presently enter time and attendance data directly into the MUNIS payroll system. For example, Police and City Hall departments enter compensatory time, overtime, and absences directly into the MUNIS system, print a report for department approval, and forward the signed document to Payroll. For this, they use the auto-pay function in MUNIS for the regular work period. The Fire Department enters regular time into MUNIS system and forwards a list of overtime hours for entry by Payroll. The Department of Public Works (DPW) uses the KRONOS time and attendance system to electronically capture time and attendance information which is then imported directly into the payroll system. However, DPW clerks directly input overtime and absences. Other departments submit paper forms and spreadsheets which are then entered by payroll staff into the payroll system. Recommendation 5.1: In the short term, the City should train all departments how to input time and attendance data directly into MUNIS. Departments should be required to submit a hard copy of the payroll with signature by the department director or other authorized management personnel prior to processing the payroll. Recommendation 5.2: Over the longer term, the City should require departments to use the KRONOS system to allow for direct, timely, straight-forward electronic capture of time worked and maintenance of accrual information.

Gathering time directly from employees electronically rather than paying them on an automatic basis can more likely assure accurate time reporting and payroll expense. This places responsibility for time submission on employees with an act to indicate their presence at work. Given the size of the effort, a staged deployment is also recommended.


Finding 6: Multiple bargaining unit contracts negotiated over many years and many negotiation cycles have led to inconsistent rules for employee pay and benefits varying by pay classification and service interpretation. Different employee bargaining groups receive pay on different cycles (weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, 21 annual pays, 26 annual pays, 42 annual pays, etc.) This is not unusual for a school system, due to the cyclical nature of a school year, but it presents multiple inconsistent/independent variables for HR and payroll staff to need to manage. Indicative of the complexity of payroll in Framingham, the City and School District use a total of 425 pay codes (specific types of pay) to report employee time across 17 collective bargaining units and 2,880 employees. (In comparison, the City of Springfield uses the same payroll system with 426 pay codes, covering 6,500 employees and 35 collective bargaining units.)

Recommendation 6.1: City and School HR should set a long-term goal to standardize contract language for pay and benefits for efficient/effective practice in order to reduce the number of different pay types and periods.

This will take a number of negotiation cycles, but a focus on long-term improvement will yield efficiency in the long term. Standardizing this language will eventually help ensure that classification and compensation is fairer and more efficient.


Finding 7: Progress has been made in the use of the Employee Self Service (ESS) facilities of the MUNIS payroll system. At present, 95% of City Hall employees do not receive paper direct deposit advices (DDAs), instead they access and view them online. In addition, since 2012, check and W-2 history has been available for all employees online. City Hall employees are able to submit requests for address and phone changes via ESS, after which Payroll staff review and make the actual changes in the system. Reports are that negotiations with some School bargaining units to use ESS are underway. Each of these changes reduces the use of paper and staff time, and are considered to be best practices. Recommendation 7.1: The City and School District should strive to become increasingly paperless in the processing and recording of employee payroll data and should extend ESS to additional City departments and School personnel.


PURCHASING

Finding 8: The Chief Procurement Officer is responsible for procuring goods and services for both the

City and School District.

Anecdotally, the procurement process has greatly improved over the last several years. There is a significant involvement and communication between the School Business Manager’s office and City Procurement staff. Much of this success it due to the working relationships established between departments. The ability to utilize electronic signature technology has been monumental in expediting the procurement process. Recommendation 8.1: Continue to explore technology options to enable remote collaboration.


Finding 9: Technology procurement remains largely separate in practice, and hardware purchases are

not jointly planned.

The hardware for the City and School District is managed separately, including switches and wireless access points, and the School District receives discounts for many hardware purchases that the City may not have access to. Additionally, there is a bylaw that the IT Director must approve all technology purchases. However, in practice, the Schools separately conduct the research and manage the RFP process and the IT Director’s role is mainly limited to a final sign-off once the decisions have been made. If the collaboration occurred at an earlier stage, it may be easier to find synergies between planned purchases and identify areas where support and development could be blended. Recommendation 9.1: The City and School District should outline a technology purchase policy that involves both divisions earlier in the process. The Technology Services Director should designate a member of their staff to work with and collaborate on the selection of technology and its purchase, all the while looking for ways to ensure that this new technology can integrate with existing systems in order to mitigate redundancies and improve performance.


Finding 10: Phone system technology between the City and School District is not connected.

While both the City and Schools utilize Cisco phone systems, the Schools changed their networking equipment (i.e. switches) to HP. There is no interconnectivity between these two kinds of phone systems. The dialing pattern in the City is 4 digits, with the Schools having 5 digits. Recommendation 10.1: The City and School District should explore whether a shared and connected phone system would allow for both more efficient communication. Discussion of merging the systems has occurred, with the acknowledgement that it would require a considerable amount work from the vendor ePlus, who currently supports both phone systems. Note – this recommendation may be largely unnecessary due to the move toward remote work. Individuals within both the City and School District organizations are now using Jabbr software while working remotely. Ultimately, ease of communication between the City and Schools is the key.


TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

Finding 11: Progress has been made through the communication channel of the Veritime working group. The CFO, City Accountant, Payroll staff, and Technology Services staff continue to work closely with the School HR, and Business Operations staff to develop and implement a time and attendance collection software (Veritime) for all School employees. This working group meets weekly, and the informal communication fostered through that consistency has been valuable. Virtual tools for collaboration should be embraced in order to continue this model into the future. Recommendation 11.1: The City and School District should continue this working group relationship even after the software implementation is complete. The utilization of working groups is a best practice in almost any large organization: when key players in organizations meet and collaborate on a regular basis, emerging problems can be quickly identified and resolved, and a sense of comradery can help boost productivity and improve upon the ability to manage issues.


Finding 12: Interaction between the City and School District lacks consistency. There is little formal connection between the two IT divisions, and the communication is largely dependent on individuals rather than roles. Norms change with directors, and School Director turnover has been high, making consistency of communication a challenge. The project team recognizes that School and City technology differs, but both divisions could benefit from a channel to discuss and share ideas, and in particular, to strategically plan to address all of the technology needs. Recommendation 12.1: The City and School District Technology Services should implement a working group designed to address technology issues and collectively plan for capital improvements and upgrades. As stated in Recommendation 11.1, the introduction of a singular working group with members of both the City and School District Technology Services departments will help to foster a sense of collaboration and will improve the ability of the City and the School to deal with emerging issues in a timely and productive fashion. This working group could include the Director of each Technology Services department or their designee, and at the very least the City’s IT analyst in order to workshop any pressing issues or identify opportunities for improved performance or process implementation. Recommendation 12.2: The City and School District should establish a collaboration processes by role, rather than relying on individual relationships. While informal relationships can produce positive results and reduce inefficiency, formalizing these kinds of links into core job functions and enshrining them in particular positions will guarantee that these positive results continue in the future when certain staff members move on from their current positions. This will prevent turnover from upending gains that are made through collaboration and links to other departments and units.


Finding 13: Most software maintenance and license renewals are centralized under Technology Services. Software licensing is managed through the City’s Technology Services. Annual maintenance and renewal for software across City departments is centralized through Technology Services, including VueWorks, Esri GIS, MUNIS, Accela, Laserfiche, Chronos, MinuteTraq, Socrata, and Veritime. While initial purchases are made with City input, the School District then takes responsibility for maintenance of its software products. Recommendation 13.1: The City and School District should continue to centralize software management through Technology Services. The ability of the technology staff to plan for necessary upgrades and budget accordingly, as well as build an understanding of the integrations between the various systems in use, can lead to a good deal of efficiency. More collaboration would be mutually beneficial in the purchasing, planning and scheduling processes. Recommendation 13.2: The initial purchase of technology services would benefit from collaboration early in the process. (See: Recommendation 9.1.)


Finding 14: There is no process in place for removing users from various systems. There is no formal notification to Technology Services if someone retires or leaves employment, thus there is no scheduled off-boarding or deactivation of user profiles, which poses a security issue. Recommendation 14.1: A formal process for termination of employment should be put in place and include a notification to Technology Services. Whether it be retirement, resignation, or termination, a formal process of actually off-boarding staff should be institutionalized in the same manner the City and the School District on-board employees. This should include the removal of their credentials from any systems or software they may have access to, a debriefing interview that assures the leaving employee details all of their access credentials and any other kind of responsibilities they will be handing over to other staff, as well as any other conceivable access they may have to systems utilized by the City and the School District.


APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: CITY ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART


APPENDIX B: SCHOOL DISTRICT FINANCE AND OPERATIONS ORGANIZATIONAL CHART


APPENDIX C: SCHOOL DISTRICT TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

Documents

City of Framingham and Framingham Public Schools: Review of …framinghamforward.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/... · 2021. 7. 29. · Framingham has 15 public schools which