Overview

The Business Service Center provides internal services to school customers in support of their school business operations. Running a school is complicated enough without the burden of non-core (i.e., non-instructional) activities, so the BSC provides training, support and advocacy that ultimately enables principals and school staff to focus on instruction.   

Goals

As the liaison between schools and central office, we help our partners communicate programs and initiatives; we also deliver training designed for school staff.

• We are a single cross-functional resource for schools and Area Offices to rely upon whenever they have questions, require expert assistance, or need an advocate, regarding policies and procedures of our central office partners.
• We troubleshoot schools’ issues. We focus primarily on resolving the immediate problem and secondarily on understanding whether a systemic cause exists—and, if so, we help to resolve it.
• We gather, assimilate and report data regarding school performance as it relates to the policies and procedures of our central office partners.  

Current initiatives

One way that we add value to CPS is by standardizing the resources and services we provide to schools and Area Offices, based on the lessons we learn from helping them with their unique problems and questions.  Some of our most popular contributions include:

• Telecommunications upgrade: In 2008, we will be launching new technology called Automatic Call Distribution that makes our entire team available to our customers when they call us.  
• Self-Service: We will soon be launching a self-help library of knowledge base articles designed especially for principals and school-based staff.
• SharePoint 2007: We continue to build our capability to collaborate more effectively with our customers.

Accomplishments

Some of our accomplishments include:   
 

• Differentiated training:  We produce and present authoritative and definitive training resources and job aids regarding initiatives and programs sponsored by our central office partners.
• Help Desk Support:  From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, we work diligently and conscientiously to answer questions from administrators and school staff on a variety of non-instructional topics.
• Premium Services: Beyond the basic help desk support, we provide, for a fee, a program of on-site, customized services to help school administrators and staff accomplish their duties.  

Resources

Three Business Service Centers support schools and Areas Offices with services related to the activities of our central office partners:

• Financial Services. We answer inquiries related to management of budget, internal accounts, and purchasing.
• Human Resources. We interpret and explain policies and procedures; we also provide guidance on how to manage positions and staffing.
• Facilities. We facilitate a quick response and authoritative guidance by the portfolio managers and area facilities managers who work closely with schools' Building Engineers to support proper maintenance and capital improvement projects.
• Safety and Security. Experienced facilitators visit schools to provide on-site audits and work with principals and staff to develop and execute effective security practices.  

Business Service Centers serve all areas within Chicago Public Schools. Here is how you can get in touch with us:

BSC North

Phone: (773) 535-5960
Fax: (773) 535-5882
1900 N. Austin Ave.
Chicago, IL 60639

BSC Central
Phone: (773) 535-8654
Fax (773) 535-8072
4655 S. Dearborn
Chicago, IL 60609

BSC South
Phone: (773) 535-7030
Fax: (773) 535-7069
11424 S. Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60643