School & District Management

‘Costing Us a Fortune’

By Katie Ash — October 14, 2009 4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To lower costs, save paper, and use less energy, schools are moving away from desktop printers in favor of networked high-volume multifunction copiers that allow teachers and students to print, scan, and copy documents.

“The operating costs are much lower” for multifunction copiers, says Marlon Miller, the education-segment manager for the Norwalk, Conn.-based Xerox. They also print and copy documents faster and provide the ability to print on both sides of the paper, he says.

“We certainly understand the budget pressures in schools,” says Miller, who recommends streamlining most printer and copier jobs to multifunction machines.

In the 550-student Minocqua-Hazelhurst-Lake Tomahawk Elementary School District in Minocqua, Wis., individual desktop printers are no longer an option.

The district started by eliminating all inkjet printers, says Jay Christgau, the director of technology for the district. “They were costing us a fortune, so we started replacing those,” he says. And at the beginning of this school year, the district eliminated all laser printers, as well.

“Those individual printers are awful for energy use, even in sleep mode,” says Christgau. “That, coupled with a lot of unnecessary printing,” spurred the district’s decision.

Now, all teachers and students will print to one of five multifunction copiers, Christgau explains. He hopes that the inconvenience of having to retrieve the documents will make students and teachers think more carefully about their decision to print.

“Nobody likes to be inconvenienced, and nobody likes something taken away, but we have a commitment to trying to go green as much as is realistic,” he says. And so far, results have been largely positive. “We’ve gotten some good feedback in the community, and that has helped,” he says.

In his district, school officials are leasing to own their multifunction copiers. Over a period of five years, the cost per page for each copy works out to be about 1.7 cents for black and white and 7.5 cents for color copies, he says.That price includes the cost of the equipment and materials, the maintenance of the equipment, and the payments toward owning the copiers.

Typically, each black-and-white copy is less than one cent, says Christgau, without any other factors included.

In comparison, an individual printer usually runs about 2 to 3 cents per page for black and whiteand 15 cents per page for color pages, says Miller, from Xerox, not including any other expenses.

A Good First Step

But that solution may not work for some districts, says Mike Dane, the vice president of product and services marketing for the Malvern, Pa.-based IKON Office Solutions.

“The opportunity is there to consolidate volume” by moving from individual printers to a multifunction copier, he says. “But you can’t just take the printers off everybody’s desks and add them to a multifunction printer.”

A good first step is to take stock of how many printers and copiers are in use and how many documents each printer or copier produces, says Dane. Then school administrators can evaluate what a realistic solution may look like for that particular school and strike a balance between cost and convenience, he says.

Jay Smith, the director of managed services for New York City-based Toshiba, says that new advancements in multifunction copiers have made them more secure and private than previous versions.

“The technology on the multifunction [machine] allows teachers to ... print from their classroom, and the print job stays on the server until they release it,” by swiping an identification badge or typing a password, he says. That technology ensures that if sensitive documents are being printed, they will not be left on the print tray, waiting to be picked up. Instead, the documents will only print after the teacher has verified that he or she is the one using the copier.

“It’s really a balance between privacy and availability,” says Smith.

Monitoring Copier Use

But the first step in reducing printing and copying costs is to put a strategy in place to monitor copier usage and performance, says Rod Davis, the founder and president of the Boise, Idaho-based Optimizon, a vendor-neutral consulting firm that works with school districts to negotiate copier and printer costs.

“You need to establish criteria so that the vendor and the vendor’s equipment and delivery of service can be measured objectively,” he says. Once the performance criteria have been set, costs will inevitably come down, says Davis.

School officials also need to systematically gather information about what printing and copying devices are on their network, how often they are used, when they require maintenance, and whether they are meeting the district’s expectations, says Ethan Davis, Optimizon’s vice president of marketing.

“Most districts don’t have the data they need when they go into the decisionmaking process surrounding copiers and printers,” he says. “Without the exact information, it’s tough to make good decisions at a district level.”

A version of this article appeared in the October 21, 2009 edition of Digital Directions as ‘Costing Us a Fortune’

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Women of Color Bring Special Strengths to the Superintendency, New Research Suggests
They have deep expertise in instructional leadership and a facility for working with stakeholders and managing thorny social issues.
4 min read
Image of diverse faces.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management 3 Principles to Help School and District Leaders Build Better Relationships With Teachers
Communication, capacity building, and a willingness to fail are key tenants of relationship-building, school and district leaders say.
2 min read
051223 Lead Sym Alyson 2 jb BS
Chris Ferenzi for Education Week
School & District Management This Principal Says It's Critical to Infuse Students' and Teachers' Days With Joy
Part of a school leader's role is to guard against outside distractions so teachers can focus on kids, says Salome Thomas-EL.
2 min read
051223 Lead Sym Caitlynn jb BS
Chris Ferenzi for Education Week
School & District Management Data Data: How Schools Respond to Student Hunger Over the Summer
The end of pandemic-era flexibility for schools and community organizations has translated into fewer students receiving free summer meals.
1 min read
Children enjoy lunches provided by the Brownsville Independent School District on June 8, 2016, at the Olivera Park gymnasium in Brownsville, Texas. The local school district provides free lunches to any child under 18 who needs a meal, regardless of their status as a student with the school district.
Children enjoy lunches provided by the Brownsville Independent School District on June 8, 2016, at the Olivera Park gymnasium in Brownsville, Texas. School districts and other organizations can sign up as summer meal sites to continue providing meals to students once school is out of session.
Jason Hoekema/The Brownsville Herald via AP