Some variation of this question is asked on a daily basis in most districts. The amount of time and energy wasted in tracking down the district’s “stuff” is significant enough that they would save many hours by not having to do it manually.
The benefits of efficient management of scarce resources can be easily quantified. By knowing exactly where it is and exactly who is in charge of individual equipment, administrators are able to get the exact resource to the exact student or teacher at exactly the right time to impact teaching and learning.
Supporting teaching and learning is the primary activity of school districts, so any system that helps administrators do that more effectively is worth studying. Because general business systems are not set up to meet individual student needs, they are not very helpful for managing education assets.
The ability to import data from other district systems such as the procurement system or the student information system into a centralized database is a key ingredient of efficient resource management. Managed from a simple, browser-based program, an integrated system can house and provide audit trails for every single district asset.
Diana Freeman, executive director of media and instructional technology in Johnston County, North Carolina, reports “we can now prove that we’ve cut waste and inefficiency, and we can allocate the money saved to other areas of need in the district.”
Previous to adopting Destiny Resource Manager, Johnston County administrators had attempted to merge 42 different inventory databases (one for each school). Their need for a new system became clear when the data became unviable and they started losing track of assets. Administrators also wanted to distribute assets fairly across this fast-growing district. By implementing Destiny, they were able to reduce their losses by 75% and eliminate redundant technology purchases.
As Johnston County transitioned to Destiny, the state of North Carolina began requiring purchase tracking and an annual asset inventory. Moving to Destiny also allowed the district to begin changing the faculty’s mindset from teacher ownership of assets to district ownership of assets.
With Destiny, Johnston County now tracks all of its asset purchases maximizing its investments and minimizing its losses. They no longer need to worry about who’s got their stuff, because they know exactly where those assets are and who is in charge of them.
