For many of the companies exhibiting at recent educational technology conferences, a key selling point was how their software or services could help schools save money during a tough economy.
For instance, Wilmington, N.C.-based Education Management Systems, which makes the Windows-based Meals Plus suite of K-12 cafeteria software, demonstrated a new module that offers real-time analysis of the financial health of school meal programs, so food-service managers can control their costs more easily.
The module, called Financial & Statistical, provides a full array of financial reporting options for reviewing the current fiscal year, as well as statistical reports that can compare costs from year to year, from site to site, or other key metrics.
“The financial tools available in the Meals Plus system are great. We have been able to use up-to-date data to better manage revenue and expenses. Easily accessible data allows us to take action quickly rather than after the fact and gives us the information we need to make key operational decisions,” said Cynthia Sevier, director of school nutrition services for North Carolina’s Guilford County Schools, in a press release.
Financial reports that can be compiled with the system include income statements and balance sheets; plate costs and meals per labor hour, by school; expense allocation costs; and indirect cost calculations. All reports can be sorted according to various accounts, sites, or time periods, helping administrators run school food-service programs more like a business, the company said.
“Where other cafeteria software systems look at revenue only, Meals Plus compares revenue with expenses,” said Ben Hooks, president of Education Management. “We provide school nutrition personnel with a real [profit-and-loss] approach to the business of running individual school or district food services.”
In another example of cost-controlling technology, Follett Software Co. has introduced the newest offering in its Destiny suite of resource management software: the Instructional Materials Package, which gives schools the combined benefits of Destiny Textbook Manager and Destiny Asset Manager. Users can view all of their district’s instructional materials inventory by school, classroom, and student from one central, web-based platform, Follett says. They also can run detailed reports and generate district-wide itemized audits, making it easier to keep track of textbooks, videos, and other instructional assets.
At the Texas Computer Education Association conference, SchoolDude.com demonstrated its web-based software for managing school facilities, events, IT assets, technology help desks, and energy use. The company’s IT Direct and ITAM Direct products offer the ability to respond to help desk incidents from anywhere, maintain an accurate inventory of technology assets, understand product life cycle and IT cost projections, create a wide variety of custom reports, and improve customer service. SchoolDude’s Utility Direct helps track energy consumption and find hidden opportunities for energy savings, and its Conserve Direct helps school leaders plan energy conservation efforts.
(Next page: Four more services that can help school leaders control costs and improve efficiency)
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