Even the smallest K-12 school systems would have difficulty operating efficiently without a formal asset borrow, disposal, and transfer system. School systems often own significant amounts of expensive educational equipment, and knowing where each item is at any given time is important to the prevention of theft, loss, or damage.
At first, school systems tracked all this information on paper, and it was arduous but necessary. Eventually, spreadsheets picked up the slack, but keeping spreadsheets updated - particularly across several physical school locations - is difficult. The schools today with the best asset borrow, disposal, and transfer systems use workflow software, which is significantly more efficient and less error-prone. School systems that assign responsibility for assets and use a formal system to track them have better control over expensive assets than school systems that don't. Generally, an annual inventory of assets is taken to reconcile records with physical assets and report surplus, missing or damaged assets that have gone unnoticed. Assets That Should Be Tracked in the Asset Borrow, Disposal, Transfer System Typical school equipment that should be tracked in an asset borrow, disposal, and transfer system may include: • Overhead projectors • Televisions • DVD / VCR machines • Computers • Printers • Cameras • Landscape maintenance equipment • School-owned vehicles What Information Should Be Tracked in an Asset Management System? In general, several data elements are attached to each school asset so it can be tracked easily. These data elements may include: • Asset class (IT equipment, audio-visual, etc.) • Asset acquisition date • Location code • Barcode number • Description with serial number • Acquisition cost and how it was paid for • Purchase order number • Condition code for asset (excellent, good, fair, poor) Transferring Assets in a K-12 System Sometimes assets are transferred from one school in a system to another, and this should be tracked by the asset borrow, disposal, and transfer system too. Whenever an asset is picked up and moved from one location to another, a transfer workflow should be completed by the person authorizing it. Creating a simple online workflow to account for asset transfers can help significantly with preventing "loss" of assets, improving asset accountability, and making the annual inventory process easier.
