4 ms·

Is the school using ink, or toner? Toner is significantly cheaper, and there are still savings by switching fonts.

ams6110 13y ago
My kids school sends home a ridiculous amount of paper. Here's a way to save a ton more money: stop. It's 2014, we don't need paper to send information home in most cases. Email or put it on a website.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  Unfortunately there are still people with children of schooling age that can't use computers that well or don't have email. I know several. I also know some people without internet access at home. I don't think we're too far off being able to replace paper with email in this case though (5-10 years max).
  - icebraining 13y ago
    Why not just provide both options, and letting people choose? It's not a terrible administrative effort to just send some via email and print out others.
    - adestefan 13y ago
      Because it's simpler to do it one way and the lowest common denominator wins in this case. Honestly, I prefer the paper version since it's less likely I'll ignore it.
      - diminoten 13y ago
        The argument here is that while it may be simpler to do it one way or the other, there might actually be savings to be had if enough people opt for the digital method. It's not like these documents don't already exist in a digital format. The "challenge" would be maintaining the mailing list.
    - pbhjpbhj 13y ago
      I've put my mind to this question for a few hours over the past couple of years and, yes, I do think the administrative effort is "too much" [for Primary School children, 4-11). There would need to be some further incentive for schools to try it. For the school the costs are probably greater in producing the letter - if any printing is required then the personnel costs are going to be approximately equal up to the point of direct distribution. Instead of sending 32 letters to each class (all classes are <32 in my kids school) then they will need to count the letters in to bundles and label for the class they are to be received by. The teacher/assistant will then need to consult a list to ensure the right students receive the letter, a potentially changing list, rather than simply give all students a letter to take. Initially up take is likely to be low IMO. There will also be a lot of issues with parents not reading all letters or having technical problems. The letter-in-bag is very hard not to deliver for primary-age children and the school can look in the bag to see if it's gone - getting notice of email letters having been seen is possible but less robust IMO. Currently my kid's school don't de-duplicate for siblings. They could do that and, I estimate, save may be ~10% of material costs immediately. I think the administration of that is similar to how you'd have to administer who isn't receiving letters by email. Schools face another option - allow advertising on letters (which I generally disprove of FWIW). That way income is likely to dwarf the theoretical savings via reduced toner use.
    - rtkwe 13y ago
      Then they have to track WHO to give papers too and who not to. And also sending a kid home with info doesn't require parents to be tech adept or to check their email often which a good number of people don't.
      - icebraining 13y ago
        Then they have to track WHO to give papers too and who not to. So what? They already must have profiles on the kids, it's just an extra mark somewhere. And also sending a kid home with info doesn't require parents to be tech adept or to check their email often which a good number of people don't. Hence the choice...?
        rtkwe 13y ago
        Yes they have a profiles some where but the hassle comes when it's time to hand out bulk info to the kids, teachers or whoever has to go check the list then make sure that every kid on that list gets one. Way simpler to just and them out to everyone.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - smileysteve 13y ago
    An email address is required for healthcare.gov now. Internet access at home isn't mandatory as long as the Federal government funds local libraries.
- ToastyMallows 13y ago
  Unfortunately, many companies and governments still rely on paper. Technology doesn't flow through bureaucracy as well as you would think. EDIT: Downvoters, rebutal? I worked at in 2 government offices, both heavily relied on paper.
- happyscrappy 13y ago
  This is always the rallying cry yet somehow in large institutions there is always more and more paper.
- mattlutze 13y ago
  Many families in many areas don't have computers or reliable access to the Internet. I have a few friends that teach in Virginia, about 5 miles from DC, who've gone so far as to spend their pocket cash on Craigslist-found laptops so they have a few they can either have in the classroom or give to some of these families. So, yes, your school does need paper to send information home.
- Marcus316 13y ago
  At last survey, roughly 15% of the families attending my child's school do not have regular access to the internet, and/or prefer receiving paper copies. That being said, my child's school offers the option of paperless, has a school blog and online calendar, and is technology-progressive. On a personal note, I don't turn my computer on at home very often. I work all day in front of one, when I'm done, I'm done. :D
- JackFr 13y ago
  It's not obvious that it would save a ton more money. TCO for a laser printer and a good copier versus email and a website is not a a simple question, especially when one considers the size of the the organization. New York City public schools can afford to spread the cost of some serious IT, on the other hand a private school of 200 students cannot, and the fixed overhead costs of maintaining a website and archive of documents may outstrip the marginal savings.
- aestra 13y ago
  Stupid idea. This works for YOU but not other parents. My husband is still living in the stoneage and doesn't use email. He actually has an email address, but doesn't check it, ever, not once in the last several years. He doesn't even know what's in his inbox. He pays his bills over the phone. My mother also doesn't use email, she never even got an email address until 2 years ago, and never uses it. She still pays all her bills with a paper check and snailmail. A growing number of children are being raised by their grandparents[1][2], thus an older generation. Some people don't have internet access, nor do they even care to have internet access. How should one know that the website is updated? Email? Well, you aren't going to get everyone to read their email. Text message? Many people don't have cellphones (especially old people), and if they did, I know several people who don't have a texting plan, so they'd be paying extra for those messages. Some people don't have cell service at home. My mother still can't figure out how to text, or if she's got a message. I know it seems simple, but she just doesn't get it. Phone calls? Well now you got a big infrastructure to build, test, and maintain for automatic phonecall system. "Johnny has been doing inappropriate things in class" is somewhat sensitive information. If you want to put it on the web, you're going to have to create logins, passwords, make sure that it is up to security standards, and deal with parents who can't reset their password. When I was going to primary school (over a decade ago!) the "IT facilities" were beyond outdated, poorly maintained, and just not up to par in any respect. We were still using floppy disks, which were an old technology even then. Are we going to update every school with the latest equipment? At taxpayers cost. Train the staff and teachers to use a new system? Maintain the infrastructure? Not everyone lives their life online. Get out of your own worldview for a second. Paper is easy, simple, and solves problems. If it isn't broken why fix it? [1] http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/US-children-grandparents.aspx http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/US-children-gr... [2] In an interesting twist, not that it has ever come up, but my mother once said she would love to raise her grandchildren. She gave her reasons as she is now older, thus much wiser. She has way way more money now then my siblings and I ever had growing up, so money issues wouldn't be a problem like it was when we were growing up. She is now retired, so she would have all the time needed.
  - dsr_ 13y ago
    Actually, my wife fixed it for our kids' school. She runs the mailing lists on a volunteer basis. Each classroom has a list. Each class list is subscribed to the grade list. Each grade list is subscribed to the all-school list. If this went across the whole district, the school lists would be subscribed to the district list. All lists are moderated; they're used only for announcements. Each year, the first flyer to come home is the "how to subscribe for your kids" sheet. The benefits are clear: less paper, faster delivery, no depending on the kids to pull it out of their backpacks to show you. The lunch menu goes out as a PDF. The PTO announces events that way. Setting it up in the first place takes a couple hours and the cooperation of the school secretary; getting the school IT involved turned out to be a big lose. At the beginning of each year, there's an hour or two of reconfiguration -- new teachers, retiring teachers, that sort of thing. If you don't sign up for it, you get paper. More than 80% of parents sign up. Are you thinking, sure, you live in a fancy school system? No. More than half the kids who go to the elementary school qualify for free lunches. 78% of the US has internet access at home. Parents of school-age children disproportionately have cellphones and are willing to take email. And no, you don't put "Johnny has been inappropriate in class" on mailing lists.
- cbhl 13y ago
  If you've seen the kinds of Content Management Systems that schools tend to procure under e-Rate, you'd send home paper too.
- Spooky23 13y ago
  If you want to make sure someone to get a message, paper is the easiest and cheapest way to do so. You can put stuff on a website, but people must actively go there. You can email it, but not everyone checks their accounts daily. Or... you can print out a piece of paper and say "hey kid, give this to your parents!" My school district spends about $250M/year. They spend about $100k on paper. Go optimize something that matters.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  By putting things on paper and handing them to you, they're fulfilling a duty of giving you legal notice of things so you won't sue them later for failing to tell you about _______. Sure, they could and should put it on a website/send it by email, but then they'd also have to get your consent for tracking every document that you read and so on...a system which wouldn't be accessible to everyone who isn't as computer-capable. Some people would want things on paper anyway, which will mean a dual system and more administration to manage both. Government often seems less efficient than business because government entities don't have the option of dropping their most difficult customers or setting a cap on their cost-per-customer expense; they're mandated by law to serve everyone, which means they'll typically go for the cheapest solution with the greatest legal defensibility, like sending out notice on paper. Even if they wanted o abandon the paper system tomorrow, they have to get almost universal agreement among the public they serve before doing so.

My kids school sends home a ridiculous amount of paper. Here's a way to save a ton more money: stop. It's 2014, we don't need paper to send information home in most cases. Email or put it on a website.

k-mcgrady 13y ago
Unfortunately there are still people with children of schooling age that can't use computers that well or don't have email. I know several. I also know some people without internet access at home. I don't think we're too far off being able to replace paper with email in this case though (5-10 years max).
- icebraining 13y ago
  Why not just provide both options, and letting people choose? It's not a terrible administrative effort to just send some via email and print out others.
  - adestefan 13y ago
    Because it's simpler to do it one way and the lowest common denominator wins in this case. Honestly, I prefer the paper version since it's less likely I'll ignore it.
    - diminoten 13y ago
      The argument here is that while it may be simpler to do it one way or the other, there might actually be savings to be had if enough people opt for the digital method. It's not like these documents don't already exist in a digital format. The "challenge" would be maintaining the mailing list.
  - pbhjpbhj 13y ago
    I've put my mind to this question for a few hours over the past couple of years and, yes, I do think the administrative effort is "too much" [for Primary School children, 4-11). There would need to be some further incentive for schools to try it. For the school the costs are probably greater in producing the letter - if any printing is required then the personnel costs are going to be approximately equal up to the point of direct distribution. Instead of sending 32 letters to each class (all classes are <32 in my kids school) then they will need to count the letters in to bundles and label for the class they are to be received by. The teacher/assistant will then need to consult a list to ensure the right students receive the letter, a potentially changing list, rather than simply give all students a letter to take. Initially up take is likely to be low IMO. There will also be a lot of issues with parents not reading all letters or having technical problems. The letter-in-bag is very hard not to deliver for primary-age children and the school can look in the bag to see if it's gone - getting notice of email letters having been seen is possible but less robust IMO. Currently my kid's school don't de-duplicate for siblings. They could do that and, I estimate, save may be ~10% of material costs immediately. I think the administration of that is similar to how you'd have to administer who isn't receiving letters by email. Schools face another option - allow advertising on letters (which I generally disprove of FWIW). That way income is likely to dwarf the theoretical savings via reduced toner use.
  - rtkwe 13y ago
    Then they have to track WHO to give papers too and who not to. And also sending a kid home with info doesn't require parents to be tech adept or to check their email often which a good number of people don't.
    - icebraining 13y ago
      Then they have to track WHO to give papers too and who not to. So what? They already must have profiles on the kids, it's just an extra mark somewhere. And also sending a kid home with info doesn't require parents to be tech adept or to check their email often which a good number of people don't. Hence the choice...?
      - rtkwe 13y ago
        Yes they have a profiles some where but the hassle comes when it's time to hand out bulk info to the kids, teachers or whoever has to go check the list then make sure that every kid on that list gets one. Way simpler to just and them out to everyone.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- smileysteve 13y ago
  An email address is required for healthcare.gov now. Internet access at home isn't mandatory as long as the Federal government funds local libraries.
ToastyMallows 13y ago
Unfortunately, many companies and governments still rely on paper. Technology doesn't flow through bureaucracy as well as you would think. EDIT: Downvoters, rebutal? I worked at in 2 government offices, both heavily relied on paper.
happyscrappy 13y ago
This is always the rallying cry yet somehow in large institutions there is always more and more paper.
mattlutze 13y ago
Many families in many areas don't have computers or reliable access to the Internet. I have a few friends that teach in Virginia, about 5 miles from DC, who've gone so far as to spend their pocket cash on Craigslist-found laptops so they have a few they can either have in the classroom or give to some of these families. So, yes, your school does need paper to send information home.
Marcus316 13y ago
At last survey, roughly 15% of the families attending my child's school do not have regular access to the internet, and/or prefer receiving paper copies. That being said, my child's school offers the option of paperless, has a school blog and online calendar, and is technology-progressive. On a personal note, I don't turn my computer on at home very often. I work all day in front of one, when I'm done, I'm done. :D
JackFr 13y ago
It's not obvious that it would save a ton more money. TCO for a laser printer and a good copier versus email and a website is not a a simple question, especially when one considers the size of the the organization. New York City public schools can afford to spread the cost of some serious IT, on the other hand a private school of 200 students cannot, and the fixed overhead costs of maintaining a website and archive of documents may outstrip the marginal savings.
aestra 13y ago
Stupid idea. This works for YOU but not other parents. My husband is still living in the stoneage and doesn't use email. He actually has an email address, but doesn't check it, ever, not once in the last several years. He doesn't even know what's in his inbox. He pays his bills over the phone. My mother also doesn't use email, she never even got an email address until 2 years ago, and never uses it. She still pays all her bills with a paper check and snailmail. A growing number of children are being raised by their grandparents[1][2], thus an older generation. Some people don't have internet access, nor do they even care to have internet access. How should one know that the website is updated? Email? Well, you aren't going to get everyone to read their email. Text message? Many people don't have cellphones (especially old people), and if they did, I know several people who don't have a texting plan, so they'd be paying extra for those messages. Some people don't have cell service at home. My mother still can't figure out how to text, or if she's got a message. I know it seems simple, but she just doesn't get it. Phone calls? Well now you got a big infrastructure to build, test, and maintain for automatic phonecall system. "Johnny has been doing inappropriate things in class" is somewhat sensitive information. If you want to put it on the web, you're going to have to create logins, passwords, make sure that it is up to security standards, and deal with parents who can't reset their password. When I was going to primary school (over a decade ago!) the "IT facilities" were beyond outdated, poorly maintained, and just not up to par in any respect. We were still using floppy disks, which were an old technology even then. Are we going to update every school with the latest equipment? At taxpayers cost. Train the staff and teachers to use a new system? Maintain the infrastructure? Not everyone lives their life online. Get out of your own worldview for a second. Paper is easy, simple, and solves problems. If it isn't broken why fix it? [1] http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/US-children-grandparents.aspx http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/US-children-gr... [2] In an interesting twist, not that it has ever come up, but my mother once said she would love to raise her grandchildren. She gave her reasons as she is now older, thus much wiser. She has way way more money now then my siblings and I ever had growing up, so money issues wouldn't be a problem like it was when we were growing up. She is now retired, so she would have all the time needed.
- dsr_ 13y ago
  Actually, my wife fixed it for our kids' school. She runs the mailing lists on a volunteer basis. Each classroom has a list. Each class list is subscribed to the grade list. Each grade list is subscribed to the all-school list. If this went across the whole district, the school lists would be subscribed to the district list. All lists are moderated; they're used only for announcements. Each year, the first flyer to come home is the "how to subscribe for your kids" sheet. The benefits are clear: less paper, faster delivery, no depending on the kids to pull it out of their backpacks to show you. The lunch menu goes out as a PDF. The PTO announces events that way. Setting it up in the first place takes a couple hours and the cooperation of the school secretary; getting the school IT involved turned out to be a big lose. At the beginning of each year, there's an hour or two of reconfiguration -- new teachers, retiring teachers, that sort of thing. If you don't sign up for it, you get paper. More than 80% of parents sign up. Are you thinking, sure, you live in a fancy school system? No. More than half the kids who go to the elementary school qualify for free lunches. 78% of the US has internet access at home. Parents of school-age children disproportionately have cellphones and are willing to take email. And no, you don't put "Johnny has been inappropriate in class" on mailing lists.
cbhl 13y ago
If you've seen the kinds of Content Management Systems that schools tend to procure under e-Rate, you'd send home paper too.
Spooky23 13y ago
If you want to make sure someone to get a message, paper is the easiest and cheapest way to do so. You can put stuff on a website, but people must actively go there. You can email it, but not everyone checks their accounts daily. Or... you can print out a piece of paper and say "hey kid, give this to your parents!" My school district spends about $250M/year. They spend about $100k on paper. Go optimize something that matters.
anigbrowl 13y ago
By putting things on paper and handing them to you, they're fulfilling a duty of giving you legal notice of things so you won't sue them later for failing to tell you about _______. Sure, they could and should put it on a website/send it by email, but then they'd also have to get your consent for tracking every document that you read and so on...a system which wouldn't be accessible to everyone who isn't as computer-capable. Some people would want things on paper anyway, which will mean a dual system and more administration to manage both. Government often seems less efficient than business because government entities don't have the option of dropping their most difficult customers or setting a cap on their cost-per-customer expense; they're mandated by law to serve everyone, which means they'll typically go for the cheapest solution with the greatest legal defensibility, like sending out notice on paper. Even if they wanted o abandon the paper system tomorrow, they have to get almost universal agreement among the public they serve before doing so.