K-12 school systems across the U.S. are adopting Oracle Cloud to simplify business processes, maximize resources, and better manage and support students and staff.
With fluctuating budgets and federal and state-wide guidelines, institutions are seeking ways to do more with less without jeopardizing the quality of their educational offerings. By streamlining finance, HR, and data management processes in the cloud, K-12 school systems are improving efficiencies and reducing costs.
“As schools return to in-person learning or hybrid environments, administrators face difficult questions around staffing, scheduling, and most importantly, how to promote the safety, well-being, and academic achievement of students,” said Keith Rajecki, vice president, Industry Strategy Group – Public Sector, Education, Research, Oracle. “Oracle helps address some of these important issues by equipping administrators with the data, insights, and planning capabilities necessary to help schools adapt in real-time.”
Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) solutions implemented include Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM), Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Oracle Analytics Cloud, and Oracle Fusion Analytics Warehouse.
K-12 institutions embracing Oracle Cloud:
Allegheny Intermediate Unit
Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) is a regional education agency that provides specialized services to 42 suburban school districts as well as non-public, charter, and vocational-technical schools in Homestead, Pennsylvania. AIU adopted Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) and Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to modernize its back-office processes. Since implementation, employees have been thrilled with the ease of use and newfound ability to perform multiple tasks within a single system—from payroll to benefits and beyond—improving time and efficiency.
Bucks County Intermediate Unit
Bucks County Intermediate Unit is a regional education services agency located in Bucks County, PA, that provides support to more than 96,000 students from birth through adult in public and private schools across the county. Bucks IU implemented Oracle Cloud HCM and has since seen improvements in recruiting, operational efficiencies, and employee engagement. With the help of this offering, Bucks IU is able to hire, onboard, manage, and engage workers in accordance with legal and organizational practices with ease. Bucks IU’s HR team can automate previously manual processes—from employee relations and reporting to simple HR inquiries—freeing up their team to focus on more strategic projects. The Bucks IU is in the process of decommissioning disparate systems and will have its data, workflows, and processes in one place with Oracle Cloud HCM.
“Since we began using Oracle, we’ve had the ability to leverage workflows and automate processes that we did not have the capability to do with our old systems,” said Karen Sandone, Director of Human Resources at the Bucks IU. “The reporting, the data we now have access to—all of that is a huge improvement from what we had before.”
Cherry Creek School District
Cherry Creek School District serves more than 55,000 students in eight municipalities in Arapahoe County, Colorado. To improve operations, Cherry Creek School District implemented Oracle Cloud ERP and Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Resources, part of Oracle Cloud HCM, with a goal to go live on Oracle Fusion Cloud Payroll, also a part of Oracle Cloud HCM, in late 2021. Now, its core financials are centralized and easily accessible, improving transparency around budgeting and funding. Processes that were previously manual are now automated, improving workflow efficiency.
“We examined the processes that were taking too much time, were inefficient, or were just bad for our employees. Then we looked at our pain points and considered how we could make things better,” says Jason Koenig, CIO at Cherry Creek School District. “Oracle checked the boxes. It was also clear that the Oracle team ‘got it.’ They were open to discussion and they were willing to push us to think differently based on what they brought from their private sector experience.”
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) offers innovative, responsive, and cost-effective programs to 22 school districts, more than 170 non-public schools, four career and technical schools, and three charter schools in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. With recent changes to federal safety guidelines and funding, MCIU needed a way to analyze changes in their schools over time, while reducing costs and increasing the impact of funds. After evaluating several solutions, MCIU selected Oracle Analytics Cloud and Oracle Fusion Analytics Warehouse. With the offerings, MCIU can source, break out, and analyze data in dashboards to improve mapping of resources, budget analysis, and hiring processes.
Wichita Public Schools
Wichita Public Schools is the largest school district in Kansas, encompassing 95 schools in Sedgwick County. To modernize and simplify its finance and operations, and in turn, free up time to focus on serving their student population, Wichita Public Schools implemented Oracle Cloud ERP and Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM).
“We believe Oracle Cloud ERP and Oracle Cloud EPM offer the efficiency, cost savings and security needed for our schools to succeed today, and 10 years from now,” said Rob Dickson, CIO, Wichita Public Schools.
In addition to these schools, Aurora Public Schools and the Hawaii Department of Education have also adopted Oracle solutions to support their success.