TEA Winner: Modernizing School Finance Processes

• Industry: School District
• Location: Hermon, Maine
• Employees: 262
• Population: 1,400
• Tyler Client Since: 1993
• Tyler Products Used: School ERP Pro
• Website: hsd.hermon.net

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Challenges

For more than 25 years, Hermon School Department used the same ERP solution that many districts in the state of Maine have relied on as the backbone of their business processes. But in 2020, driven by news that updates to their legacy system were coming to an end, the district recognized a need to modernize their finance processes. Director of Finance Jamie Youngblood, who joined the district just months before, came with new expectations for the district’s next ERP solution.

Coming from a district that used a more powerful Tyler Technologies ERP system, Youngblood struggled to adapt to a system with less functionality. “One of the things I found most difficult was the inability to search. That, for me, was huge because it wastes time when you can’t find something … the efficiency and the ease of use was not there,” said Youngblood. Add that to the basic finance functions missing from the core software — often requiring work to be completed outside of the system in spreadsheets — and Youngblood was motivated to find an integrated solution that would better serve the needs of her district.

Solution

The Tyler ERP solution Youngblood had used at her previous district felt too robust for this smaller district’s needs, but she hoped to find a solution that would continue her relationship with a trusted vendor. Youngblood was happy to find that Tyler’s School ERP Pro solution was the right fit. Recalling a visit to a nearby district already using the software, Youngblood said, “I was able to actually see the system work with real data and real processes. School ERP Pro takes the greatest parts of [the other Tyler ERP solution we considered] and our previous solution and puts them all in one place.”

Beginning the implementation of School ERP Pro at the height of the pandemic, and only six months after Youngblood joined the district, came with challenges. Despite this, she felt well-supported: “Our implementation was all done remotely, and we had a fantastic implementor. She was able to answer questions, give advice on the best way to set things up, give an idea of what the end result would be, and was able to support me with training everyone myself.” Youngblood also recognized that a change like this was bound to come with some disruption. “I think it’s hard for any district to find the time to do everything that needs to be done for an implementation. Being able to do it in the middle of a pandemic is something else altogether. But I still think it’s the best decision we could have made.”

Results

Once School ERP Pro was up and running at the district, Youngblood saw improvements in the next payroll she processed. “In the legacy system deductions for health and dental were separate for employee and employer, and we were finding that the whole deduction wasn’t being set up. It relied on the human factor a bit too much. We corrected those sorts of things in the implementation and that made all the difference in the world,” she said.

Having all the district’s payroll information in School ERP Pro has lessened errors that resulted from manual data entry, such as incorrect dollar amounts and account numbers. “We’ve also been able to give access to our schools, so they are entering their own accounts payable and able to run their own reports,” Youngblood said. Efficiencies like these have freed up the district’s finance staff to focus on forecasting, data analysis, and planning for the future.

Working with a cloud-based system has also helped the district to improve their processes. “Access from anywhere — that part has been the greatest. Our administrators can approve things even when they’re on vacation, and we’re able to keep the workflow going,” said Youngblood.

Youngblood has been an advocate for other districts in the region adopting School ERP Pro, eager to demonstrate her favorite features, including the ability to filter data and easily capture the information needed for state retirement reporting. She encourages districts to try it out for themselves. “People are afraid to break something,” Youngblood said, “But it’s really hard to break School ERP Pro. Just get in there and see what happens.”

Continuing her efforts to support her peers in Maine, Youngblood is involved with School ERP Pro’s Innovator Program, where she has the opportunity to provide feedback to the product’s developers. Youngblood said, “My biggest thing is wanting a program that’s the absolute best it could be to make my job as easy as possible. The bonus is that it helps every other business manager in Maine that uses it.”