Every year, schools generate more and more documents surrounding every aspect of the school’s day-to-day operations. The types of documents accumulated can include student enrolment records, finance documentation, incident reports and staff records – just to name a few!
To remain compliant with applicable record keeping requirements, these documents all need proper processing, filing and storage. We know from experience though that archiving isn’t always a priority until it is too late.
The documents you need to store can not only affect the classroom, they can also play a role in the bigger picture for the school, such as staffing management and budget allocations for both state and federal levels.
It’s important to get on top of your school’s archiving before it gets on top of you!
Your school’s archives may take years to accumulate, but sooner or later they’ll either show signs of deterioration or will be too overwhelming for your school’s staff to handle if they’re not given the attention that they need in your school’s 2023 budget.
Why include Archiving in your 2023 budget?
You’ve run out of Supplies
Maybe you’re reading this and thinking “but wait, I am on top of my archives!” Firstly that’s fantastic – go you! We know that for many schools though this isn’t the case.
The thing we find with many customers is that they have no more boxes or archiving accessories to store all of the newly accumulated documents.
Even if it’s only a small amount, it’s definitely wise to add some archiving funds to your budget. (If this isn’t you, well, keep reading on – we have a bit to work through.)
Your Archives are a Mess
If you walk past your archiving room and shudder at the thought of going in there, then it’s time to stop avoiding and get cleaning!
It’s possible that your school may not have the right personnel who are trained properly in the art of archiving, or you don’t have a dedicated space to securely store all of your items.
Mismanaged archives could lead to your school running into unforeseen issues in the future.
Allocating some of your school’s budget for professional, specialised archiving services is a necessity for your school to stay on top of its archiving needs.
To Preserve History
Your school’s historical records, along with the important cultural, social, legal, and educational items that your school has generated or collected in its years of operation, are crucial for your school’s own administrative and legal purposes.
These records also form the historical fabric of your school’s area or suburb. Don’t risk losing all of your school’s precious history.
The preservation and maintenance of such items with historical significance well into the future is one of the most important responsibilities of school archivists and school library staff.
Long-term Savings
Investing in professional archiving services sooner rather than later will help your school save more on funds in the long run.
Archiving services aren’t exactly the cheapest, but they’re well worth the price. Including your archives in your school’s 2023 budget will help prevent your school from needing a major archiving overhaul or “rescue” in the future, which could not only be more costly, but also more difficult to pull off.
Having an efficient and sturdy archiving system installed for your school next year would also mean a lot less trouble for your archiving staff and lower costs in maintaining your archives for the following years.
Our easy-to-use archiving system will ensure that school archiving staff would need to spend less time looking for files, which leads to increased productivity since they can reallocate their time for more important tasks.
What should you include in your Archiving Budget?
Archiving Overhaul
This is aimed at those of you who have archive rooms that are cluttered, untidy and a risk to staff.
To assess if an overhaul might be for you, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is my archive room clean, easily accessible and safe for staff access?
- Can I easily locate individual files when needed?
- Do we have an archive management process in place?
- Do I stay on top of my annual archiving?
If you answered no to any of those above questions, then an archiving overhaul is essential for you!
An archiving overhaul will help you start from the bottom up and ensure your archives are catalogued and returned to you in a safe and easily accessible manner in something like a Smart Stack system.
Archiving Supplies
To ensure that your archives are in top shape and stay that way for as long as possible, you’ll need to invest in top-grade archiving supplies that will actually last.
A common issue that we’ve found with mismanaged archives is the use of low-quality boxes that are quick to get crushed, split open, or torn apart within only a few months of purchase.
At first glance, cheap boxes may seem to be a great way to cut archiving costs, but they can leave your school’s documents and records in a headache-inducing mess sooner than you think.
Higher-quality archive boxes or storage systems are the way to go if you’re looking to save both grief and money for your school in the long run. They won’t need frequent replacement, they last for a long time, and they’ll actually keep your records and documents in the same condition that you first stored them.
Ongoing Archiving Services
If your school doesn’t have any staff members who are trained to deal with archiving matters, it’s important to budget for ongoing professional archiving services.
This ensures that your school’s archives are well-maintained throughout the school year.
It’s also important to include ongoing archiving services in your school’s budget just in case your school’s archiving staff suddenly becomes unavailable in the middle of the school year.
Secure Document Destruction
Another worthy inclusion to your school’s annual budget is a secure document destruction service. Hiring a destruction bin service on several occasions during the school year ensures that your school is maximising its archiving capacity by disposing of files that are no longer needed.
A regular destruction bin service will also help keep your archive room clutter-free, and more importantly, will help prevent sensitive student or school documents from falling into the wrong hands.
Staff Training & Development
You might not think that staff should be trained on the ins and outs of archiving, but this is where we experience the most support queries from customers. If your staff are not properly trained in archive management your school’s records could be at risk of being lost or destroyed when they should be kept permanently.
It’s Now or Never!
To wrap it all up, budgeting for professional archiving services will provide long-term benefits for both your school’s overall operation and hard-working personnel.
You’ll be able to maximise your files’ accessibility while keeping them safe and sorted. On top of that, your staff will also be very happy to work with an efficient, user-friendly archiving system.
Investing in your archives now will also help you ensure that your school doesn’t run into extremely costly archive overhauls anytime soon.
Now is the time to invest in your archives with Smart Stack! If you would like to find out more on the Smart Stack archiving services or to book in a free archiving assessment, click here.
