SchoolDude

CARY, N.C. (March 2, 2006) — SchoolDude.com, the nation’s leading provider of web-native operations management solutions for educational institutions, recently received an ongoing endorsement from the Michigan School Business Officials (MSBO) and Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA) to provide affordable, web-native facility management solutions to school districts across the state.

The endorsement will enable Michigan school districts to purchase SchoolDude’s web-native applications at affordable, discounted rates. SchoolDude’s products are designed specifically for schools and include solutions for work order processing, technology incident management, preventive maintenance, capital planning, facility usage scheduling, field trip management, utility tracking, and inventory management. Because SchoolDude’s application services are delivered over the Internet, the technology is affordable for both small and large school districts.

The decision to endorse SchoolDude marks the culmination of a three-and-a-half year evaluation of available market options and observation of MSBO member school districts’ market choices. “It appeared to be the most selected brand of system over anything else,” said Scott Little, Associate Executive Director of the Michigan School Business Officials. “Of the districts using anything, SchoolDude seemed to be the product selected more and more. We found it to be the right tool to raise the bar on facilities operations.”

SchoolDude’s suite of web-native solutions provides measurable benefits to school administrators, including improved productivity, reduced energy consumption, relief to facility capital budgets and extending facility life. In addition, SchoolDude clients enjoy the simple implementation and ease of use offered by SchoolDude’s facility management solutions.

“SchoolDude had us up and running in fifteen minutes, and we could do whatever we wanted with the system,” said Charlie McGinnis, Manager of Facilities and Maintenance at South Lyon Community Schools, who selected and implemented SchoolDude’s technology more than four years ago. He added, “This quick start – and the promise that a preventive maintenance product would be up and working in six months – was what really got us hooked.”

“We as an organization feel that SchoolDude offers the best chance for quick success,” Little affirmed. “If the system works right away, it helps build confidence for customers. If there are issues and implementation problems, people lose confidence in the product, and it’s difficult to bring them back. Knowing SchoolDude’s valuable rate of quick success, everybody got on board.”

“We at SchoolDude are very impressed with the level of services that MSBO is providing to school facility professionals,” said Lee Prevost, SchoolDude President and Co-Founder. “SchoolDude is very active in ASBO International, as well as its more than 30 state affiliates, and we believe MSBO to be among the strongest programs of its type in the nation. We are proud of our association with MSBO.”

The MSBO and MASA were encouraged in their decision to endorse SchoolDude by key members in both organizations who voiced their approval of SchoolDude’s applications and the many benefits of using web-native technology. Bob Schrauben, Facility Director at Belding Area Schools, said, “SchoolDude provides the most in-depth and thorough programs. They continually improve the programs, even without input from us. There is nothing else available that comes close.”

More than 100 school districts across Michigan are already utilizing SchoolDude’s solutions, including: Traverse City Area Public Schools, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, Bloomfield Hills Schools, Wayne-Westland Community Schools, Chippewa Valley Schools, Kent ISD and Farmington Public Schools.

“It makes me feel good that I have a product that is being recognized,” McGinnis said. “Now we have a system that the majority of the people in the state can use to communicate back and forth and merge together now that a user group has been created. This is the best possible solution in the market.”

About SchoolDude
With more than 1,900 clients, SchoolDude is the nation’s leading provider of web-native operations management solutions designed exclusively for the unique needs of educational professionals. Backed by the industry’s only Legendary Service Program, SchoolDude’s broad suite of online applications is revolutionizing the business of managing educational operations. SchoolDude’s web-native tools for operations management offer easy to use, affordable solutions to help both small and large educational institutions save money, increase efficiency and improve services. For more information about SchoolDude, visit www.schooldude.com.

About MSBO
Michigan School Business Officials was founded in 1937 as a nonprofit corporation to serve the multifaceted interests of education. The mission of MSBO is to continually improve the leadership of and management in school business and operational services, while enhancing the professional, social, and economic well-being of its members.