Document Scanning & Digital Records for Schools & Districts
We convert student records, transcripts, board minutes, and microfilm into organized, searchable digital files — so your staff spends their time on students, not file cabinets.
Every district has the same problem: decades of cumulative files, transcripts, special education records, board minutes, HR files, and student billing. Some of it’s on paper, some of it’s on microfilm, and all of it lives in a file room somebody has to dig through every time a records request comes in.
We fix that. BMI scans and indexes your paper and microfilm records, then delivers them the way that works best for you — loaded into your existing system, or hosted in our secure Digital ReeL application. You get fast, searchable access to every record. Your staff gets their time back.
How we help schools and districts go digital
Most district projects fall into one of three buckets. Plenty of projects mix all three.
Student record & paper document scanning
For the paper side of the house — cumulative files, transcripts, HR records, board minutes, and everything else in the file room.
- Every format: letter, legal, large-format, notebooks, and bound books.
- High-volume backfile conversion, or scan-on-demand for multi-site districts.
- Indexing and data entry so you can pull a record by student name, ID, or year — not by box number.
- Output in PDF, PDF/A, JPG, or TIFF, ready for systems like Tyler, Microsoft SharePoint, Hyland OnBase, and Laserfiche.
→ More on our document scanning services
Microfilm & microfiche conversion
For the older records — the transcripts and student files that ended up on film decades ago.
- All microform types: 16mm and 35mm roll film, 3M cartridges, microfiche, jacketed fiche, COM fiche, and aperture cards.
- Our Digital ReeL option makes converting an entire film collection affordable — you don’t pay to index every record up front.
- Same output formats and indexing options as paper.
→ Find out more about our microfilm digitization services.
Secure student record hosting with Digital ReeL
If you don’t have a document management system — or don’t want to maintain one — we’ll host your records for you.
- Retrieve transcripts, student records, billing, and HR files from a secure online portal.
- Lock access down to your physical offices with IP filtering.
- Backed-up, offsite copies protect your records against fire, water damage, and break-ins — see our disaster preparedness
→ Learn more about Digital ReeL or how it compares with a “traditional” conversion.
Not sure which bucket you’re in? Tell us what you have and we’ll point you the right way.
How a project works
- Scope. Tell us what you have — boxes, cabinets, film reels, fiche drawers. We’ll ask a few questions and send you a custom quote.
- Transpo. Your records get to our doorstep: we pick them up, you ship them, or a combo of the two.
- Scan & index. Your records are scanned at our production facility and indexed with the fields your staff actually searches by.
- Deliver. Files load into your existing system, or go live in Digital ReeL. Either way, your records are a search box away.
What schools & districts say about BMI
Nogales High School, CA
“Having access to our aging files in digital format has been mind-blowing. Locating older files was a drag: having to pull the microfilm, threading through the microfilm reader, and looking for a specific file — then adjusting and still not getting a clear image. It was time-consuming and disappointing. Transitioning to digital is the best decision we could have made. We can get rid of our massive microfilm reader machine since now we have clear images of all our older records. It now takes us seconds to locate a file. Thank you BMI for making a chore into an easy and fun task.”
— Jova Bovadilla, Guidance Secretary
DCMO BOCES Support Services Center, NY
“We are an educational organization that had some very old and outdated microfilm reels. We needed the records converted to PDF documents for searching the data. BMI Imaging provided a price-winning quote for the services we needed. It was very professional and timely in providing the security shipping containers to transport the microfilm, and when the project was completed it returned our materials along with the USB hard drive containing quality PDFs and labeled files.”
— Robin Winchester, Business Office
Garland Independent School District, TX
“Working with BMI was a great experience from start to finish. Their team was responsive and knowledgeable, making the process easy to navigate, even with the internal coordination required on our end. Having our records in Digital ReeL has made a huge difference — what once required my teammate to make trips to the library and time on a microfilm reader can now be done in minutes from our office. It’s been a major improvement in accessibility and efficiency.”
— Babetta Hemphill, Executive Director of Student Services and School Choice
Frequently asked questions
How do you digitize student records?
We receive (or pick up) your paper and microfilm records, scan them at our production facility, and index each record so it’s searchable by the fields you choose — student name, ID, graduation year. Then we deliver the digital files into your existing system or host them in our Digital ReeL application.
Is scanning student records FERPA compliant?
FERPA allows schools to use outside vendors for records work as long as the records stay under the school’s control with proper safeguards. That’s how we operate: BMI is SOC 2 Type II audited, access is restricted, and every project runs under a documented chain of custody.
How much does it cost to scan student records?
It depends on volume, condition, and how much indexing you need — a box of loose paper and a reel of microfilm price differently. The fastest way to a real number is a free quote. Want a ballpark first? Try our project estimator.
How long does a project take?
That depends on how much you have. A few file cabinets is a different project than a district-wide backfile conversion. When we quote your project, we include the timeline — so you know before you sign anything.
Can you import scanned records into our existing system?
Yes. We capture the index data your system needs and deliver files ready for platforms like Tyler, Microsoft SharePoint, Hyland OnBase, and Laserfiche. Here’s how scan-and-import projects work.
What happens to our paper records after scanning?
Your call. Once you’ve verified the digital copies, we can securely destroy the originals or return them to you — whatever makes the most sense for you.
Can our staff access records online after conversion?
Yes. With Digital ReeL, your staff retrieves records from a secure web portal — from any school site you authorize. If we deliver into your own system, access works however that system already works.
How do I figure out how much microfilm and microfiche we have?
You don’t need an exact count to get started — a good estimate is plenty for a quote. This blog post walks you through a couple of quick ways to measure your collection.
Helpful Resources
Just getting started on your digital conversion? These are good places to learn more about scanning projects:
- BMI blogs — plain-language articles about paper scanning, microfilm conversion, secure processes, and more.
- The Digital Imaging Channel — our YouTube channel that gives you long-form videos and shorts all about digitization projects.
- Project Estimator — before talking to anyone, you can see what your project may cost with our estimator tool. Great as a starting point.
Ready to get your student records out of the file room?
Tell us what you want to have digitized and we’ll put together a free project quote to get you there!
Clients:
Some of the schools and districts we’ve worked with:
