K-12 Facility Managers See Efficiencies and Optimized Budgets

Key points:

K-12 facility managers are emphasizing efficiency and cost savings as they face the twin challenges of aging infrastructure and budget constraints, according to a new Incident IQ surveya workflow management platform built for K-12 schools.

With the average age of American school buildings being just under 50 years, facilities managers are accustomed to juggling maintenance and repairs as stopgap measures for needed replacements that may not fit neatly into annual budgets.

The survey indicates that facilities teams are focused on reducing maintenance costs (32.6 percent), improving efficiency (28.2 percent) and renovating learning environments (23.9 percent) as their main facility goals for the 2024-2025 school year.

“K-12 facility managers have a tremendous responsibility to keep aging buildings in good working order so students and teachers can stay focused,” said RT Collins, CEO of Incident IQ. “It's a balancing act, but many teams are gaining efficiencies, cost savings and better insights through improved operations technology. “We look forward to seeing even greater adoption of these solutions to meet the demands of the coming academic year as schools continue to face increasing budget pressures and increased service expectations.”

While 45 percent of respondents think their current systems and processes are somewhat effective at capturing the scale of their work, many teams are looking to make technology purchases to drive greater understanding.

Top technology considerations for teams looking to improve communications and optimize workflows include:

• Computer maintenance management software (CMMS): 39.1 percent
• Mobile apps for staff: 21.7 percent
• Digital maintenance tracking: 17.3 percent
• Automated scheduling systems: 8.7 percent

Commissioned by Incident IQ and conducted by Spaces4Learning, the online survey was conducted in July 2024 and surveyed 46 US-based K-12 facility managers to understand the top challenges facilities teams will face in the next school year.

Key topics explored in the report include: technology adoption and barriers, how teams manage and respond to facility requests, and how they collect and use data to make informed decisions.

eSchool Media staff covers educational technology in all its aspects, from legislation and litigation to best practices, lessons learned and new products. First published in March 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information needed to help K-20 decision makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and universities. and achieve their educational goals.

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