Blue Valley Schools modernizes purchasing approvals with a centralized, automated Hyland OnBase™ solution

Industry: Education (K-12)
Location: Overland Park, Kansas
Organization size: 3,700 employees
Hyland solutions: OnBase
Partner: Harvest Technology Group

Blue Valley Schools struggled with a purchasing approval process that had become a fragmented mix of paper forms, PDF e-forms, emails, spreadsheets and manual follow-ups — creating inefficiencies, increasing stress for an overextended team and making it difficult to deliver the precise reporting the school board needs for monthly budget approvals. After evaluating multiple approaches over time, the district built an end-to-end process in Hyland OnBase™, consolidating submissions, approvals, documentation and reporting into a single, district-branded portal so staff can focus on higher-value work and the board can make confident, informed decisions.

The district’s prior purchasing process lacked consistency, visibility and control. Submissions arrived through multiple channels, approvals were tracked manually and supporting documentation was scattered across email inboxes and shared drives. Reporting for the school board required time-consuming manual compilation and frequent rework to meet highly specific formatting and data requirements. Without a centralized system, the district faced higher risk of errors, audit gaps and delays — while placing significant strain on staff resources.

Blue Valley Schools needed a solution that provided a user-friendly submission experience with complex data validation, a streamlined approval workflow tied to indexed supporting documents and fully automated reporting that aligned precisely with school board expectations. Previous approaches did not fully align with the district’s workflow and reporting requirements.

Blue Valley Schools built its new purchasing approval process on OnBase, starting with centralized document storage and indexing, a Unity Form for submissions and a customized approval workflow. To meet reporting requirements, the district implemented a WorkView application to capture and organize purchasing data, supported by Unity Scripts and WorkView Report Processor templates that automatically generate summaries in the exact format required by the school board.

A Document Packaging solution collects and bundles all supporting documentation with approval summaries, ensuring decision-makers have complete context for review. The solution is delivered through an App Builder portal, providing a simple, district-branded interface and keeping all activity within a single system. Every step is recorded with a complete audit trail, supporting transparency and accountability.

The new OnBase solution replaced a disorganized, high-friction process with a cohesive workflow that reduces administrative effort and staff stress. While precise metrics are still being finalized, the purchasing team is already saving hundreds of hours each month by eliminating manual tracking, redundant data entry and report compilation. With purchasing information centralized in OnBase, the school board now receives consistent, comprehensive reporting that supports informed financial decision-making for the district.

Most importantly, the solution enables staff to focus on higher-value work that directly supports schools, educators and students — instead of managing spreadsheets and chasing approvals.

Phase 2 will expand functionality to include legal review and redlining of purchase contracts within OnBase, along with enhanced processes for tracking and reporting fixed-asset purchases. The district is also considering additional reporting capabilities, as well as delegating initial purchase approvals to individual departments while maintaining centralized oversight. Together, these enhancements extend Blue Valley Schools’ commitment to operational excellence, transparency and responsible stewardship of public funds.