The Bush administration is pushing for more outsourcing of government work to private contractors.

But a recent performance review shows the Lawrence school district saved $550,000 during the past three years by booting a private contractor and bringing building and grounds maintenance in-house.

Tom Bracciano, the district’s director of operations and facility planning, said the district saved more than originally expected and the schools were cleaner, too.

“We saved money and improved quality of our services,” he said.

District staff welcomed the school board’s decision in 2000 to end association with ServiceMaster, the Downers Grove, Ill., corporation that held an “outsourcing service” contract for six years to supervise custodial operations and lawn care in the district.

Marcia Shepard, head custodian at Sunflower School, said she didn’t shed a tear when ServiceMaster was sacked.

“They started out really good and brought in a lot of equipment,” she said. “But, as it went on, they didn’t replace it. I was sort of taping things together.”

Marcia Shepard, head custodian at Sunflower School, 2521 Inverness Drive, wipes off tables after lunch. The Lawrence school district claims it has saved about 50,000 in the three years since it dumped ServiceMaster as the contractor for maintenance and janitorial work. Shepard cleaned tables on Wednesday.

Returning the job to district employees helped morale, she said, because workers once again knew the buck stopped locally. The number of custodial staff vacancies in the district also has been reduced since ServiceMaster’s exit.

“It’s much smoother,” said Shepard, who has been at Sunflower 10 years and was at Kennedy School seven years.

The board severed ties with ServiceMaster after administrators calculated as much as $125,000 could be saved yearly by taking the work in-house. Projections were based on ServiceMaster’s proposal for renewal of a contract with the district at $538,000 annually for three years.

Overall savings in the post-ServiceMaster years have actually been $74,000 in 2001, $241,000 in 2002 and $235,000 in 2003, the district said. Estimates for 2004 are for $230,000 in savings, which would make the four-year total $780,000.

“This is one particular area we’re doing things differently and being more efficient,” Supt. Randy Weseman said. “We do have people working harder and smarter.”

He said savings had been reallocated to support other areas of the district’s operating budget.

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