Cut Costs, Not Capability

A Budget Survival Guide for School IT Leaders

Budgets are tighter. Scrutiny is higher. And aging classroom tech is getting harder to justify. This guide shows school IT leaders where costs are hiding and how to cut them without losing the tools schools rely on.

Calculate Your Savings

$190B

in ESSER funding has expired

22%

projected drop in federal K–12 funding

75%

of districts are using reserves

69%

have frozen hiring

The Math has Changed

The old playbook was simple: replace displays when warranties expire, buy a new tool for every new need, renew everything that still works. It was built for a funding environment that doesn’t exist anymore.

ESSER is gone. Per-pupil spending is flat against 3% inflation. Every line item you used to renew on autopilot is getting a second look.

The districts coming through this in shape aren’t cutting capability. They’re cutting the assumptions baked into their stack. Specifically, they’re asking three questions the old playbook never forced them to:

1. Do we actually need to replace that display, or are we replacing the software around it?
2. Are we paying four vendors for one outcome?
3. Was our classroom tech built for classrooms, or is it just running in them?

If you recognize your district in even one, you’re already ahead of most.

Three Traps. How Many Describe your District?

Trap 1. You’re replacing hardware to fix software

Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs) can be $2,500 or more per classroom, times every IFP on your refresh list. That’s the real cost of the decision most districts make by default.

The panels work. What’s failing is the software layer on them — slow, insecure, or no longer supported. Replacing the whole screen to fix that is the most expensive way to solve a software problem.

See the IFP Decision Framework →

Trap 2. You’re paying four vendors for one outcome

Four contracts. Four renewals. Four support lines. One outcome: stuff on a screen.

Screen sharing, digital signage, emergency alerts, announcements. In most districts, each one is a separate vendor billing you separately for the same displays. Every renewal cycle, you’re negotiating four times for what should be one line item.

Compare: One Platform vs. Four Tools →

Trap 3. You’re running tools that weren’t built for schools

Airtame. ScreenBeam. Apple TV. Good products. Built for meeting rooms and boardrooms, now running in your classrooms.

These were built for one person sharing a screen in a meeting. Schools run on something different: teachers switching content mid-lesson, consistent behavior across every room, alerts and signage that tie into the same system. It’s why teachers work around these tools. It’s why IT keeps getting tickets that shouldn’t exist.

Is it time to replace your screen sharing tool? →

Now put your numbers in.

3 Traps

You’ve seen the three traps. This tells you what they’re costing you together.

Five questions. Under three minutes.
We’ll show you the math — nothing hidden, no email required to see the results.

What Districts are Doing?

The three case studies below prove the arguments made earlier, providing direct evidence for each trap avoided.

Trap 1: IFP Refresh

PS 54 Q

Queens, NYC

Proved that a software-first approach saved millions over a total hardware refresh.

Trap 2: Tool Sprawl

A.D. Henderson

Boca Raton, FL

Saying goodbye to hidden fees and hello to connected learning spaces through tool consolidation.

Trap 3: Build for Schools

Hayward Unified

Hayward, CA

"Apple TV patchwork replacement is a direct fit."

Not sure where to start?

Pick the path that matches where you are right now.

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