Austin Public Schools is one of four school districts honored this year by the Performance Excellence Network, formerly the Minnesota Council for Quality, for Austin’s Baldrige management system.

Evaluation Criteria includes leadership, strategic planning, customer-focused processes, measurement systems, workforce engagement, and operations and recognizes organizations that are systematically improving results.

The organizations receiving the Award are: Cardinal of Minnesota (Rochester), Winona Health (Winona), both recognized at the Excellence Level; LifeSource (St. Paul) at the Achievement Level; and Austin Public Schools (Austin) at the Commitment Level.  These four organizations join 123 others recognized since 1991 for their systematic improvement efforts and superior outcomes.