Enhancing Efficiency Out of the Box

• Industry: K-12 School District
• Location: Cheyenne, WY
• Number of Employees: 2,500
• Student Enrollment: 14,000
• Tyler Client Since: 2021
• Tyler Products Used: Munis, Tyler Payments, ExecuTime, Tyler Cashiering, Tyler Content Manager, Absence & Substitute

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Challenges

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, Laramie County School District #1 encompasses three rural elementary schools, 26 city elementary schools, three junior high schools, three high schools, one alternative high school, and one charter school. In 2014, the busy school district invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to help its employees with financial and human resources management. However, the solution it selected ultimately offered limited functionality.

Because it was not fully integrated, the software was not able to connect the district’s core financial work with other processes. So, tasks such as onboarding, recruitment, absence management, compensation, and payroll were not connected — meaning staff relied on independently-maintained spreadsheets and manual workflows to understand the bigger picture.

After more than five years of operating in the resulting silos, Laramie County School District #1 decided to perform a needs analysis to reexamine its processes and procedures. During that analysis, the district uncovered a few core problems with its legacy ERP software, namely:

• It wasn’t designed to support the school district’s processes, so it required lots of time and customization to achieve the functionality required by the district.
• The technology soon became obsolete, causing serious problems requiring dedicated support services.
• The solution’s support was limited, resulting in backlogs and multiple workarounds.

Needless to say, the results of the analysis provided confirmation the district would benefit from a change.

Solution

Laramie County School District #1 opted to explore other options. It needed an ERP solution that would work out of the box, make use of emerging technology, and provide end users with the support they needed if issues arose.

Working alongside the school board and other stakeholders, the school district decided to invest in Tyler Technologies’ integrated ERP solution, Munis®. Not only is Munis purpose-built for school districts, but it is a dynamic solution that evolves with new features, technology, and expanded services to ensure clients are never left behind with outdated software or support.

Tyler’s ERP solution works with school districts like Laramie County School District #1 to break down departmental data silos, streamline processes, and eliminate duplicate data entry.

“The out-of-the-box functionality we get from Munis had always been a custom job with our legacy provider,” said Jed Cicarelli, finance director, Laramie County School District #1. “Tyler Technologies’ ERP solution feels custom-made for school districts, but all we really have to do is plug it in.”

He continued: “In the past, we were forced to change many of our business processes to get even limited functionality from our ERP solution. With Tyler, one of our main priorities is to utilize the solution as it is intended, without seeking a lot of customization. Luckily for us, Tyler has been in the business for decades, and it is intimately familiar with the needs of school districts like ours.”

Results

Historically, Laramie County School District #1 had dedicated full-time staff members devoted to supporting its ERP system. With Tyler’s hosted ERP solution, it can use those staff numbers in new ways. Cicarelli mentioned the school district would be focusing on reporting and transparency moving forward.

He said, “Having a system in place that allows our team to work together — from recruitment to offboarding and beyond — is a huge benefit. It’s one that we haven’t had the opportunity to experience until now.”

“Because we don’t have to deal with the complicated customizations or ongoing support issues that go along with making an ERP solution ‘our own,’ we’re looking forward to achieving significant return on our investment,” said Cicarelli. “We used to have a lot of side processes; there were no end users in our district who did not have a process outside of our ERP system to function in their role. That’s really where the legacy system slowed us down. With Munis, we have the ability to streamline essential business functions and reduce redundancy.”

According to Cicarelli, Tyler’s ERP solution will enable Laramie County School District #1 to increase efficiency and support levels. Because it is fully integrated, the district will be able to look at its operations holistically — noticing how certain departments are impacted by others and making decisions accordingly — with no individual spreadsheets necessary.