Schools find going paperless saves money, helps students

The idea of going paperless is often framed as an environmental decision; after all, "going green" helps save the planet in a number of ways. But many schools that have taken such a step are now also finding unexpected benefits, from fewer ongoing costs to more student engagement.

In Hillsborough County, Florida, the local school district recently switched to a paperless program that allows teachers and administrators to distribute important school information electronically, and it's paying off significantly, according to Tampa television station WFTS. That, in turn, helps the school save a lot of money on paper and toner for information that students were often quick to discard anyway.

"I would have to take home lots of flyers, almost every day," Melanie Aponte, a Lennard High School student, told the station. "And it kind of got stressful because all the flyers kept getting all around. I would lose some that were important."

Estimating the savings
Based on the number of people who have signed up for the electronic service, and the number of memos being sent on the system, it's likely that the district has already saved the cost of handling more than 16.75 million sheets of paper since August, the report said. The estimated cost of every copy the school produced is about 2.5 cents, so the savings are adding up quickly, to an estimated $419,000 or so district-wide, roughly equivalent to the salary of 10 elementary school teachers.

Students love it
Meanwhile, junior high students at Evergreen Junior High School in Houma, Louisiana, recently got the benefits of a similar switch, and their teachers say they see the kids more engaged with their schoolwork, according to Houma Today. Administrators note that most kids have grown up using computers or other devices every day of their lives, so to continue using a pencil-and-paper approach in classrooms might not be the best way to get them dialed in to really concentrate on work. By switching to paperless, electronic systems, there could be a significant benefit for many students' grades.

The more school district decision-makers can do to assess their readiness for a transition to ongoing paperless document management services, which could include the use of bulk scanning to digitize vital school documents, the sooner they may be able to both start saving money and see potential benefits for students as well.