Service Without Silos: Arlington ISD’s Unified Approach

Like school districts across the country, Arlington Independent School District in Texas is facing challenging headwinds: declining enrollment, expanding school choice, and families’ rising expectations for multilingual, multichannel support. 

During a Texas Association of School Administrators webinar, “Unified by Design: How Arlington ISD Is Modernizing Customer Service Across Departments,” Dr. Jennifer Collins, Deputy Superintendent at Arlington ISD, shared how her district is improving collaboration, eliminating silos, and delivering a seamless customer experience for every family.

From Email Overload to a Unified Service Desk

With more than 8,000 staff members spread across Arlington ISD, it was easy for issues to slip through the cracks. Teams often found themselves lost in lengthy, confusing email threads that lacked crucial student information and provided little historical context — delaying responses and creating bottlenecks and frustration for staff and families.

“We recognized that to raise our level of service and ensure every question and concern reached the right person, we needed to eliminate these silos and move toward a unified, districtwide service desk,” Collins said.

That’s where K12 Insight’s Let’s Talk entered the picture.

“By centralizing operations on a unified platform, we can streamline communication, boost accountability, and provide families with responsive support — regardless of which department or campus they contact.”

Streamlining Back-to-School Operations

Arlington ISD piloted Let’s Talk with the Transportation department first, then quickly expanded to Registration just before the start of the school year — a critical test of the platform.

“This year’s back-to-school season saw increased accessibility and responsiveness for families thanks to Let’s Talk,” Collins said. “Parents and staff received faster, more consistent answers to frequently asked questions, from enrollment to bus schedules, which significantly reduced frustration and confusion.”

The district’s chatbot added another layer of accessibility by offering real-time responses in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

“Our families reflect the rich cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity found across our region,” Collins said. “This diversity makes it essential that our customer service is not only equitable and accessible, but also personalized — so every student and family feels valued and supported.”

The district is also beginning to use Let’s Talk’s telephony feature to support Technology — streamlining workflows and delivering faster, more personalized support for users.

Using Data to Drive Continuous Improvement

With Let’s Talk, the district can track and measure every ticket (dialogue). After each interaction, families can rate their experience on a 10-point Customer Experience (Cx) Score. These live ratings enable district leaders to identify trends, benchmark their performance nationally, and target professional development where it’s needed most.

The district also tracks “ticket age” — the time it takes to resolve an inquiry.

“More than 70% of parents expect a response within 24 hours, so this metric is critical to our service promise,” Collins said. “Our staff is being pulled in many different directions, and they appreciated how Let’s Talk quickly addressed routine inquiries — freeing up their time to focus on higher-level needs and personal interactions.”

Tips for Texas School Leaders

Dr. Collins advised other district leaders to make customer service a districtwide priority by investing in regular training, empowering staff to go above and beyond, and celebrating those who exemplify outstanding service.

“When service excellence becomes part of your everyday culture, families notice the difference,” she said.

Dr. Collins also suggests unifying all communication channels — phone, text, web, and chatbot — so families have a seamless experience wherever they reach out, and staff can focus on supporting students rather than tracking down answers. Integrated systems mean fewer missed messages, faster response times, and greater family trust.

Ready to Modernize Service in Your District?

Let’s Talk helps school districts build trust, reduce busywork, and deliver outstanding service at scale. District leaders use the platform to:

• Improve parent and community satisfaction — boosting enrollment and retention.
• Simplify service requests and automate responses to frequently asked questions.
• Foster collaboration across departments to deliver faster and more consistent service.
• Make data-driven decisions with real-time insights on trends, response times, and satisfaction.

Reach out to our team to learn how Let’s Talk can help your district improve operations and service with consistency, clarity, and confidence.