Schools continue to invest in paperless document management

Across the U.S., a large and growing number of school districts have recognized the value of using document management systems as a means of organizing and protecting important student data on an ongoing basis. While in many cases students can be loaded into the platforms with backfile scanning efforts on existing physical documents, any new entrants to a school system would have to be registered using paperless processes.

An effort in the South
Cherokee County School District in Georgia is one such organization that recently launched an online registration system for both new and returning students. Parents of returning students will be able to update contact information as necessary and also fill out specialized forms related to free or reduced-price lunches, medication and allergy requirements and so on.

Previously, efforts to register kids or get them ready to return to school had been difficult for both parents and schools themselves, the report said.

"We have heard parents' and front office staff's concerns, and thanks to the hard work of our Office of Technology and Information Systems staff, we have found a better way," said CCSD Superintendent of Schools Brian V. Hightower. "This system is much better for parents, but it also increases the accuracy of vital information, and saves taxpayer dollars by eliminating paper costs and staff time spent processing paper forms."

Slightly north
Meanwhile, Tennessee's Robert County Schools will likewise use online registration efforts to expedite the student onboarding process, according to the Nashville Tennesseean. As with many other such programs, all parents need to do to register their kids is fill out all the pertinent information once, and it will then live in the document management system for the entirety of their enrollment in the school district. Updates to that information can then be made as needed.

Because of the ease and efficiency of not only these registration processes, but also how schools themselves handle those files going forward, the importance of making the switch sooner rather than later is significant. The earlier schools move to adopt behind-the-scenes document management, the sooner they can start to save time and potentially money on both registering and maintaining student files.