Master School Operations Management for Better K-12 Administration

School administrators and teachers should be focused on education, not hunting down classroom inventory. That’s why it’s vital for K-12 schools to invest in an accurate inventory tracking system. In this article, we’ll outline the benefits of a proper school inventory management system, and the risks of operating without one.

What is a School Inventory Management System?

A school inventory management system is a structure for keeping track of the many assets any school requires to function, from items like printer paper all the way to janitorial supplies. Modern schools depend on thousands of assets that change hands frequently and experience wear and tear every day. While teachers and students heavily rely on these items, employees like administrators, cleaning staff, and tech support all leverage some kind of school inventory. Here are just a few examples of the types of assets that keep K-12 schools operational:

1. Technology

Today’s high-tech classrooms depend on a variety of computers, tablets, and audio/visual equipment. From projector screens to laptops that students can check out for individual use, each of these assets experience depreciation and require regular repairs which need to be tracked. 

2. Administrative Office Supplies

School administrators may work behind the scenes, but their daily work managing the overall learning environment is no less important, nor are the tools that they depend on. Administrators require inventory like school-specific software, phones, and printers to oversee their K-12 schools.

3. Furniture

Schools rely on various types of furniture to support students and educators in the classroom as well as office staff. From desks and chairs to bleachers and lunch tables, each type of furniture is integral to a school’s day-to-day operations.

4. Course-specific Supplies

While certain classes may just require standard textbooks and IT devices, quite a few courses rely on other supplies that need to be tracked accordingly. These items can include microscopes and Bunsen burners for science classes, paint brushes and canvases for art courses, and various sports equipment for gym classes.

5. Cleaning Supplies

Janitorial services keep the K-12 learning environment clean and safe. Assets like floor cleaner and toilet paper may not be pricey, but it’s essential to keep track of their inventory levels and replenish them in a timely manner for continuous facilities management.

Risks Without a Proper Management System

The diverse variety of assets that keep your average K-12 school operational show just how dependent educational organizations are on multiple disparate parts working cohesively together. A critical mistake that some K-12 schools make is tracking these assets on separate spreadsheets, or not at all. These are some of the risks that a school faces when it doesn’t have a management system in place:

1. Wasted Time and Money

Time that teachers spend trying to track down lost assets is time they can’t spend teaching. If an asset is found to need unexpected repairs or replacement, that’s more valuable educational time lost while the item is out of commission. Without a school inventory management system, K-12 schools are always at risk of dealing with costly, time-wasting surprises like these.  

2. Lost or Broken Items

Assets that are meant for classroom use can be handled by many different students in a semester or a single day. That means there’s a higher chance of an asset getting misplaced or damaged than there would be for an asset with a single user. Without a system in place, it’s harder to identify where inventory was last seen operational or to track items that are being regularly checked in and out by students. 

3. Compliance Issues

When K-12 schools don’t have accurate classroom inventory data, they can’t forecast precise timelines for replacements. That means it’s a coin toss on whether there’s room in the budget for an unexpected new purchase. Public schools and charter schools, which run on tighter budgets than similar types of organizations, especially don’t need to deal with this added challenge. 

School Inventory Management Success Story: MAISD

Implementing a school inventory management system reduces waste, prevents loss, and optimizes budgets—saving your district money on supplies, tech, and maintenance. A robust software solution removes the cost of human error while placing all of your assets in one central hub, so school administrators can quickly look up up-to-date inventory and make informed decisions. 

As an example, take the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) in Muskegon, Michigan, which implemented a school inventory management system in 2017. Before the switch, MAISD relied on a collection of poorly organized Excel spreadsheets scattered across various departments. After migrating to one central software solution, the district saved 100 hours a year. 

Once MAISD switched to an asset management software, administrators were able to easily track school assets throughout the whole asset lifecycle. They were able to enforce accountability when assets that changed hands and classrooms were found broken. They could set low stock alerts for bulk assets like floor cleaner and printer paper. The biggest timesaver for this district? They could now bring up laptop and tablet histories, purchase dates, and warranty information in a click. 

“When someone asks me how old their equipment is, it is so easy to be able to pull that information up quickly, where before it would take me a long time to dig it up,” said Departmental Administrative Assistant Jennifer Carlson. 

Start Saving Time and Money with Asset Panda

The software that saved MAISD 100 hours a year is Asset Panda, an asset management software that empowers schools to streamline their device management in an easy-to-search database. And MAISD is not alone. Hundreds of school districts have implemented Asset Panda in order to slash the time they spend chasing down devices and to improve the accuracy of their records and reports. 

School districts of all sizes count on Asset Panda to keep track of everything they rely on to contribute to students’ education, from musical instruments to gym equipment. Asset Panda’s highly customizable software can be configured to work with one or several campuses all the while boosting collaboration and transparency between departments. This easy-to-use software requires minimal training and already operates on the computers and mobile devices staff and teachers already have. 

Ready to jumpstart your classroom inventory management system? Request your personalized demo to see how Asset Panda can work for your school or district.