Every school ERP demo looks impressive — dashboards, charts, a mobile app screenshot. The differences that matter show up months later, after the sales team has left and your staff are the ones using it every day.
Ask about the second week, not the first
Any system can look good on launch day, when there's excitement and a vendor's implementation team in the room. Ask instead: what does using this look like in week eight, when a substitute teacher needs to mark attendance for a class they've never taught, or when a parent needs their child's fee receipt from four months ago?
Mobile isn't a feature, it's the interface
For most parents and many teachers, the phone is the primary — sometimes only — device they'll use. If the mobile app feels like an afterthought bolted onto a desktop product, that gap becomes the daily experience for the majority of your users.
Ownership of your own data
A school's records — academic, financial, personal — belong to the school and the families it serves, not to whichever vendor happens to host them. Before signing anything, confirm you can export a complete copy of your data at any time, in a usable format, without needing the vendor's permission.