TEA Winner: Cloud-Based ERP Uncovers Financial Opportunities

Organization Profile

• Industry: School District
• Location: Hood River, Oregon
• Number of Employees: 600
• Students: 3,800
• Tyler Client Since: 2021
• Tyler Products Used: School ERP Pro, Content Manager, Student Transportation

---

Challenges

For rural school districts, deep community ties often come naturally and can offer mutual benefits. “Our district and our community are intertwined in a lot of ways, and as a result, we’ve enjoyed a reciprocal relationship. Our community supports us well financially, and our facilities, such as our tracks and fields, serve the community,” said CFO Mark DeMoss. In addition to shared resources, Hood River County School District prioritizes partnerships with families and prepares students for college or careers, helping to maintain their strong community.

However, an outdated accounting system made it difficult for the district to ensure their financial resources were used most effectively. Limited reporting functionality meant the district’s accounting department had to process data manually to provide meaningful insights. “You could pull some data, but then you had to dump it into a spreadsheet and massage it to be accurate and easy to digest,” DeMoss said. “Budgeting involved a lot of manual work and, as a result, mistakes were made.” DeMoss estimates that avoiding those mistakes could have saved the district $1.5 million — a significant sum when finances are already strained by budget reductions and increased wage and pension costs. To enhance their operations and help prevent costly errors in the future, Hood River decided to upgrade to a modern finance system.

Solution

Hood River County School District established a relationship with Tyler Technologies when they implemented Tyler’s Student Transportation software in 2021. Many of their neighboring districts also use Tyler’s School ERP Pro software, but Hood River took their modernization efforts one step further by becoming the first school district in Oregon to complete a full cloud implementation of School ERP Pro.

The district’s cloud-based software has allowed remote access, improved security, and facilitated integration between their systems. “School ERP Pro is really designed to integrate. It’s not confined to the accounting system — the HR modules flow into it and there’s even an ability to integrate your busing,” DeMoss said. Looking back at the district’s decision to implement School ERP Pro, DeMoss explained, “You have to consider if the software really integrates into your daily work. In School ERP Pro, you can check a budget on a purchase requisition with one button. That didn’t exist in our prior software.”

An ERP system that is regularly updated and provides a single source of truth for their financial data was crucial to improving their operations. “In Oregon, we’re required to upload our budgets to provide transparency for government agencies and our community. Having a consistent platform to pull our data from helps us see how the numbers tie together over time. We can report straight from our system and know the data is correct,” DeMoss said. This data transparency and accuracy builds trust in the community and helps ensure the Oregon legislature allocates the district’s funding correctly.

Results

With their cloud-based School ERP Pro system in place, Hood River County School District is better positioned to fulfill their commitments to their community. “We are stewards of not just students, but our community’s tax dollars,” DeMoss said. Access to real-time data allows for better decision-making, helping the business office manage funds wisely and support their broader educational goals.

Effective financial management is especially important as Hood River, and many other districts in Oregon, are experiencing significant budget cuts. School ERP Pro helps DeMoss’s team save time on everyday processes, allowing them to shift their attention to strategy. “Now we can focus on the bigger picture for our budget. We can ask questions like, ‘Do we put our money in interest-bearing accounts or put it somewhere else? How do we bring in revenue to offset facilities costs?’ You don’t even get to make those decisions if you’re too busy trying to massage your data and throwing spreadsheets around. The business office makes money by being able to put those pictures together,” DeMoss said.

In addition, School ERP Pro offers functionality to email reports on a set schedule. This helps the district answer questions and tell an accurate story about their financial position and goals. “The better you can tell the story and be transparent — in terms of both communication and data accuracy — people will be able to trust what you’re telling them. When you build that trust, you can increase resources. You’re more likely to receive grants,” DeMoss said. “One side of the business office is controlling expenses, but on the other side we can focus on increasing the pie, increasing revenue.”

Looking forward, DeMoss has a vision for how School ERP Pro can support Hood River’s financial operations. “As the saying goes, the only thing constant is change,” DeMoss said. From integrations that can streamline budgeting for their transportation department to software that stays up to date to meet the district’s needs for years to come, Hood River County School District is well-positioned to succeed through changes and challenges.