Despite the worst economic environment in generations, spending by K-12 institutions on maintenance and operations (M&O) held its own--defying historical trends that have shown M&O spending among the most affected in times of budget tightening. This article presents data from the 38th annual Maintenance & Operations Cost Study for schools that can help one in benchmarking expenditures at one's institution. Data provided reflect actual spending by school districts on M&O and are not intended to be "ideal" amounts. According to the data, the median school district allocated 9.57 percent of total district expenditures (TDE) to M&O in the 2008-09 school year. This is an increase over last year, and much better than the abnormally low percentages reported earlier in the decade. However, school district operations remain under pressure. For example, although energy expenditures saw some relief, custodial staff is being tasked with more responsibility. With a median of 32,100 square feet maintained per full-time custodian (an almost 20 percent increase over last year's amount), facility directors must look continually for ways to improve productivity so that staff can work smarter, safer and more efficiently.