Lost or damaged assets cost the average school system nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year, including nearly $80,000 a year in technology equipment alone, according to a new study by the market research firm Quality Education Data (QED). Large districts lose even more, the study says–some as much as $1.4 million in assets per year.

The study was commissioned by Follett Software Co., a maker of library and asset management software. Follett says the results point to the importance of having a solution that can centralize the management of district resources more effectively.

QED surveyed 479 district business managers, administrators, and technology chiefs in all 48 contiguous states. Respondents were asked about the problems they face in managing assets and the systems they use to keep track of their equipment. They also were asked to estimate the cost of loss, damage, or redundant purchases of these assets.

The study found that investments in educational technology, primarily computer and AV equipment, are among the assets most at risk. According to the study, the average district loses more than $80,000 in such ed-tech equipment annually. Districts that use manual tracking of computers and other equipment reported a 41-percent greater annual cost of lost or damaged goods than those using a commercial asset tracking program, and 32-percent greater loss than those using a spreadsheet or database program.

The study also found that districts typically have no single technique for managing assets, but often use multiple systems depending on the assets. Sixty-six percent of districts use two or more different kinds of tracking system. Most districts, 59 percent, are still using manual inventory systems or simple spreadsheets or databases to track at least some of their assets.

The results show that districts struggle with a number of problems in finding the time, money, personnel, and tools to keep track of assets, Follett said.

Rich Kaestner, total cost of ownership (TCO) expert for the Consortium for School Networking, an ed-tech leadership organization, said effective asset management is important for knowing how to manage school budgets more effectively.

"Typically, schools don’t have that kind of information in one place. For schools that are interested in total cost of ownership, asset management tools are great for understanding that," Kaestner said.

"I ask [clients] if they have any kind of centralized asset management versus a site-based inventory system," he added. "Most of them at least understand what their inventory is, how old it is, and about what they paid for it. Very few of them have a formalized asset management kind of tool. Most will pull out a spreadsheet somewhere. That spreadsheet will include a serial number, an asset tag number–that sort of thing. They don’t go too far beyond that. They don’t know the configuration, the software on the machine, or that kind of thing.

"When you look at the loss, it’s not only the dollar value of the hardware, it’s also the loss of people’s time and energy to replace things."

Kaestner said the kinds of resources a school system has affect how closely it tracks those resources.

"I work with three schools that do one-to-one [computing], and each of those know who to look to when seeking asset management," Kaestner said. "Those that are site-based are totally out of control. But most have some sort of inventory and can tell you what is where."

Several companies–such as Symantec, Altiris, and HP–make IT asset management software that can keep track of computer and software inventory; some even market systems that can track all assets connected to a school district’s computer network. A number of other firms are cited at a website of the Assess Management Software Organization (see link below). But Follett claims to be one of the only companies to sell an education-focused program for centrally keeping track of everything from laptops to books to band uniforms and more.

George Araya, director of the technology and information services department at Desert Sands Unified School District in La Quinta, Calif., said he has noted a significant improvement in efficiency in his 27,000-student district since implementing Follett’s Destiny Asset Manager software.

Before using the software, "we didn’t have any asset management system; nothing was centralized. It was impossible to be accurate," Araya said.

Desert Sands expects to implement a paperless asset management system. District officials hope the system will allow them to eliminate duplicate entry of asset information, reduce asset entry time by 90 percent, reduce school inventory time from one week to a half day, and use the data to analyze asset options and examine life-cycle costs.

Araya said the Destiny system, which complies with the Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF), has met his schools’ needs well.

"It’s targeted to education, so [the makers] understand the issues we have in education," he said. "For instance, you know that the teacher will move classrooms at the end of the school year. The teacher cannot move [his or her] assets. Corporate-level software management programs don’t understand that. Plus, it’s part of a centralized system that is interoperable with our library. It is also SIF-compliant, which means that all the pieces communicate. … Those are the issues that make the difference."

Araya offered an example of how these distinctions could play out.

"When the teachers come in at the beginning of the year, they are assigned to a classroom and given a spreadsheet with all of the assets in the classroom. They verify that every asset [listed] really is in classroom by scanning the bar codes on the items. In the past, so many times the teacher was assigning something that doesn’t exist. Everything is now online. If you move chairs, move something from one classroom to another, everyone knows where the items are. There is more accountability; you know exactly where everything is."

Another example: "I have 10 computers in every classroom. In another school, I have only one. The inequity is obvious and easy to report," Araya said. "You can budget better knowing what [schools] have and what they need. This really suits that purpose for education."

Follett Software President Tom Schenck said district business managers clearly recognize there is a need to better understand their asset distribution, and this understanding has driven the need for a single, coherent, district-wide framework for distributing and tracking assets.

"Centralizing the management of resources–library materials and media, textbooks, fixed and portable assets–has proven to be key to helping districts free up time and money for instruction," he said. "A centralized educational resource management solution reduces administrative costs and redirects those savings toward instruction."

Links:

Desert Sands Unified School District
http://cms.dsusd.k12.ca.us/

Quality Education Data
http://www.qeddata.com

Consortium for School Networking
http://www.cosn.org

Asset Management Software Organization
http://www.asset-management-software.org

Altiris
http://www.altiris.com/Products/AssetCMDB.aspx

Follett Software Co.
http://www.follett.com

HP Asset Management
http://h20229.www2.hp.com/solutions/asset/

Symantec LiveState
http://www.symantec.com/Products/enterprise?c=prodinfo&refId=860&cid=1025