The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing has presented its “Outstanding Agency Accreditation Achievement Award” to the Fulton County School System. The award recognizes excellence in government organizations that set and follow rigorous standards.

According to the Institute, the Outstanding Agency Accreditation Achievement Award recognizes those agencies that lead the public procurement profession. There are more than 2,100 governmental agencies belonging to National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, yet only 71 have received accreditation.

This is the second prestigious recognition for the Purchasing Department. For the past three years the Department has been the recipient of the “Excellence in Procurement Award” from the National Purchasing Institute and Institute of Supply Management. Fulton is one of only three school systems in the nation to receive the award, which recognizes organizations that are innovative, professional, productive, and have strong leadership.

Purchasing Director Wilma A. Gibbs-Matthews credits her staff’s approach to “working smarter, not harder” as a factor for their success. Technology advancements, such as their award-winning web site, allow vendors to register online and download solicitations. This allows the Purchasing staff to focus on more important tasks such as awarding system wide contracts instead of mailing solicitations and thousands of purchase orders daily. The automation provides a substantial savings for the entire school system.

A “virtual mall” also has been created for employees to order office and custodial supplies and other materials online, allowing schools to shop whenever – and wherever – needed. Since all teachers have been equipped with personal laptop computers, this means that classroom materials can be ordered by the teachers themselves, instead of a more time-consuming process that usually places an added workload on a school bookkeeper or professional assistant.

“We are empowering our employees and making the purchasing process simpler and providing contracts for items needed to perform our daily mission,” said Mrs. Matthews. “This allows all of us to use our time and resources more effectively, and that ultimately allows for the best quality product for the best price being used in the classroom.”