Accountability and Transparency: Managing Instructional Material Inventory at Suffolk Public Schools

Using Frontline Instructional Materials Management

“It really helps not just at the district level, but at the campus level. You don’t have to go multiple places to look for information,” says Latricia. Building-level data is especially important, because it informs how she works with each school. “It helps us work in partnership to make sure that I’m successful with my inventory and that their inventory is as accurate as it can be on a moment-by-moment, second-by-second basis. I don’t have to second-guess.”

Tracking Instructional Materials of All Kinds

Most of the inventory in Frontline is comprised of textbooks, but Latricia says the system tracks all sorts of things. “You can use it for a variety of inventory. If you wanted to inventory cupcakes, you certainly could do that,” she jokes. SPS uses it to track instruments for the music program and, during the pandemic, to manage masks and clear backpacks that students were issued. Depending on the need, the system can track distribution dates, expiration dates, material types, licensure information, and more.

Ordering the Right Materials (and Just the Right Amount)

“With Frontline, I don’t over-purchase books,” Latricia explains. Enrollment data from the district’s student information system feeds automatically into Frontline, helping her see how many copies of each title she needs to purchase for the next school year based on enrollment and existing inventory. “I can also use the analysis portion of the report to see about future growth. I can drill down and say, ‘This is how many books I have; this is how many books I need.’ It helps me purchase the appropriate number of books so that I don’t over-purchase or under-purchase.”

Latricia also looks at course registration to determine the number of materials needed and tracks who has been issued — and who still needs — each book, down to the campus, grade, and individual student levels. “You may have a kindergartner at a first-grade level, or a second grader at a kindergarten level, so they may need access to those books, but who would know that?” she says.

Coordinating Efficient Material Distribution

Because Latricia is “a department of one,” she enlists other employees and student interns to help during peak distribution season. “I can just type in the ISBN number and all the schools will pop up, and then I can list the quantities because it shows the enrollment numbers and all of that in there.” At the same time, she can see what has already been issued to schools, so if they request the same materials twice, Latricia asks them to locate the materials they already have.

Textbooks can be issued in quantities, which saves time for the Textbook Center. “We don’t always have the time to assign a book or a teacher resource via book number, where you can just assign them 15 copies. A lot of times, the schools will line their books up on the stage, and they’ll have the students and teachers come in and distribute them right from there. They like the fact that they can get their little barcode scanner out — boop, boop — and keep the line moving.”

When a school receives materials, they get a signed receipt, which is also archived in the system. This enhances accountability: “We gave you a receipt for this. You can’t say you didn’t receive it. ‘Oh, we never got it.’ I have a signature here that says someone signed for it.”

Financial Savings

Accountability is a huge part of why Latricia loves using Frontline. “In today’s society, what is the key word? Transparency. Frontline promotes accountability, it promotes transparency, and it helps us save money. Isn’t that the bottom line?”

Latricia estimates that previously, missing materials cost SPS over $100,000. Now, she can run reports that show each school how much money their materials cost, which can be eye-opening. “At the end of the year I can say, ‘I gave you this material. We need these materials back because it goes into the thousands of dollars.’ And when they get that pick ticket and they see $14,000, it’s, ‘Wow!’” Suddenly, schools were motivated to recover missing books at the end of the year. “When we sent out the lost textbook report, the schools saw how much money they were costing the district by not accounting for their material. They started finding stuff; they were looking in the rooms, and the dollar amount at one school went down to $0. It forced them to go and find the materials.”

It’s a mindset shift, Latricia says, but well worth it from an educational and financial perspective. “It really boils down to training people to use the process so that you can have accountability and transparency, and then we can meet the needs of the student and the teacher. Because if we don’t have that book in the room, it can make or break a student.”

Has Frontline Instructional Materials Management paid for itself? Latricia says yes. “Absolutely. And it continues to do so. If not, we wouldn’t use it.”

Reliable Support from Frontline

When Latricia needs help with something in the system, she and other users can quickly access videos and other learning resources in the Learning Center. And if there’s something that she still can’t figure out, she knows that the Frontline team is a quick email away. “They’ll provide you instant feedback, and they always follow up with, ‘Latricia, do you have everything you need? Is everything okay?’ They are very prompt and efficient in responding to your trouble calls.”

When asked what she would say to another district considering Frontline, Latricia didn’t hesitate. “I use Frontline Instructional Materials Management to help me receive and distribute textbooks throughout the district. I’m excited about it. I would not be able to do my job successfully without it. It helps us to save money. Everyone seems to have positive feedback about all the different tasks and tools and reports that you can use to help you be successful for the following school year. I encourage you, if you’re looking for a system that’s going to help with all that distribution, go for it.”