Leveraging AI to Streamline School Operations

The presence of AI in our lives is unavoidable, and in many cases it has served to streamline tasks and make day to day life easier. In education, however, AI has created uncertainty about how to use it well, how to teach students to use it appropriately, or whether to avoid it altogether.

Most discussion has focused on student facing use. Yet as someone who supports technology both in classrooms and behind the scenes, I noticed a gap in how AI could support the systems that keep schools running for students, families, and staff. Drawing on my background in corporate IT, I could see opportunities to automate workflows that would ease staff workload, improve morale, and free up more time for what matters most, working with students. This led my team to partner closely with our business office to understand daily processes and where time and energy were being lost.

The Myth of Big Budgets and Big Systems

One of the biggest misconceptions about AI in school operations is that it requires large budgets or major systems changes. In reality, many tools already exist within platforms schools use every day. High impact gains can come from small starting points, such as automating reconciliations or adding a simple chatbot to a school website.

A Practical Example, Smarter Reconciliation

After the early success of our projects, I had the opportunity to share this work at the AMISA Conference. While most sessions focused on AI in teaching and learning, interest quickly grew when the conversation shifted to operations. One of the examples that generated the most discussion was a simple but powerful use case, bank statement reconciliation.

Traditionally, reconciling statements is time consuming and repetitive. Staff download spreadsheets, check transactions line by line, compare against invoices or fee payments, and hope nothing is missed. It is slow and prone to human error.

With an AI assisted workflow, the process changes completely. Statements and ledgers can be uploaded together, with the AI highlighting mismatches, flagging unusual entries, and grouping transactions automatically. What once took hours can now take minutes, without adding new software or staff.

Empowering Teams, Not Replacing Them

This type of automation does not replace finance teams. It strengthens their work. Instead of spending time digging through line items, teams can focus on accuracy, forecasting, and supporting families and colleagues. That is where human expertise adds the most value.

Extending AI Across School Operations

Reconciliation was just one example. We also shared work on a chatbot that connects maintenance requests through WhatsApp and a website crawler that makes school information easier for families to search. Through these discussions, it became clear that many schools are starting to see that AI is not only for classrooms. It is becoming an essential support tool for the daily operational work that holds schools together.

The Real Fix

The goal is not to become an AI driven school overnight. The real fix is reducing friction in daily operations and creating space for thoughtful, human centred work. At its best, AI does not replace the people who care for school communities. It gives them back time to do that work better.