School Help Desk Software Case Study: Easton Area School District (PA)

Easton gets its IT support in step with Mojo Helpdesk

Easton Area School District (EASD) is a K-12 public school district in Pennsylvania serving nearly 10,000 students and supported by about 2,000 staff across nine schools and a Cyber Academy. After outgrowing an on-prem help desk, the district moved to Mojo Helpdesk as its education help desk software to modernize IT support for staff, students, and families.

At a glance

• District type: K-12 public school district
• Location: Pennsylvania
• Scale: ~10,000 students, ~2,000 staff
• Time on Mojo Helpdesk: 5+ years
• Active agents: 15
• Key capabilities used: Google SAML SSO, public-facing ticket pages, canned responses, role-based permissions, automation

Easton is also known for something else that requires precision, coordination, and timing: its legendary high school band, the Red Rover Marching Band. With more than 300 members, “The Beast from the East” doesn’t miss a beat. And that level of reliability is the standard they aim for everywhere else, too – including in their IT department.

Challenge: Replacing an outdated on-prem help desk that couldn’t keep tempo

Before switching to Mojo Helpdesk, EASD’s IT team was using an on-site help desk system that had fallen behind the district’s needs.

The interface felt dated, automation options were limited, and maintaining a physical server added extra complexity. As the district grew and expectations increased for faster resolutions, better communication, and easier access, the existing system struggled to keep up.

Easton knew it was time to move to a cloud-based ticketing system for schools that could support modern workflows without adding work for the IT team.

Here is what changed when Easton moved from an on-prem system to Mojo Helpdesk.

Before vs After: On-prem vs cloud-based school help desk

What Easton needed in a ticketing system for schools

The district evaluated several help desk options and demoed a few well-known tools. On the surface, some systems appeared to work well during demos. But once EASD began implementing one of those tools and using it day to day, gaps quickly became apparent.

Simple tasks such as CC’ing someone on a ticket required multiple steps. Formatting issues appeared when pasting images into replies, making communication less clear than expected. Features that looked polished in a demo didn’t always translate into smooth, real-world workflows.

That experience sharpened Easton’s priorities. They needed a ticketing system for schools that handled everyday tasks cleanly and intuitively, including:

• Easy CC’ing and communication
• Cleanly formatted replies with images
• Granular agent permissions
• Public-facing Help Center
• Flexible automation triggers
• A sleek, modern interface

There was also a familiar concern: long implementation timelines and sales promises that didn’t always match reality.

Mojo Helpdesk stood out by delivering a tool that worked just as well in practice as it did on paper.

“We went through a demo of another help desk and it seemed to work well. But once we implemented it and actually started using it, we started to notice things that didn’t work as expected. Simple stuff—like CC’ing someone on a ticket—took multiple steps, and pasted images didn’t appear nicely. Mojo does all of these things much better, and that’s when we knew Mojo was the way to go.”

Implementation: Fast rollout with Google SAML SSO

The transition to Mojo Helpdesk was smooth and “on key” from the start, both during setup and in daily use.

Andrew Palmer, Systems Administration Officer at Easton, set up queues and forms, added agents, and enabled Google SAML integration so staff could sign in using their existing Google accounts, making it a natural fit for a Google Workspace help desk. No prolonged rollout. No unexpected roadblocks.

“Other help desk systems we looked at had long implementation periods and a lot of sales overpromising. Mojo was different. It just worked.”

Today, Easton typically has around 15 agents, and the system has scaled easily as staffing levels have changed over the years. For Easton, Mojo Helpdesk functions as a reliable IT help desk software solution that supports real-world ticketing workflows while keeping setup and administration simple.

Results after five years: smoother workflows and better communication

Easton Area School District has now been using Mojo Helpdesk for over five years, and the improvements have been felt across the board, especially in day-to-day communication.

Some of Andrew’s favorite features include:

• Canned responses for faster replies
• CC’ing to keep everyone informed
• The ability to quickly pick a ticket
• The efficient “update and solve” button

Tasks that once required extra steps or workarounds now happen naturally within the system. Most importantly, the overall experience for both technicians and users has improved significantly compared to previous tools Easton evaluated and used.

Supporting students and families with public ticket pages without missing a beat

One feature has been especially impactful: public-facing ticket pages that don’t require a login.

Easton uses the Help Center to help students and guardians at home, particularly when students are locked out of devices or accounts. Guardians can submit tickets, share contact details, and communicate via personal email without creating an account or navigating a complicated system.

What could have been a chaotic process became organized, accessible, and easy to manage.

Why Mojo Helpdesk worked for a K-12 district

Just like Easton’s marching band, the district’s IT operations rely on coordination, clarity, and consistency. To reduce back-and-forth for common questions, districts can also publish answers in a self-service knowledge base so students and families can troubleshoot before submitting a ticket. Mojo Helpdesk helps keep everything moving in step.

“Mojo Helpdesk provides us with a sleek and modern help desk with features that empower our technicians to quickly resolve tickets with great communication to our users.”

Why choose Mojo Helpdesk for K–12?

Mojo Helpdesk is built specifically for K–12 school districts that need a reliable, easy-to-manage ticketing system for schools. It supports the full school community—staff, students, and families—with secure access for employees, simple submission for households, and workflows designed for real district IT needs.

With Google SSO for staff and students, public Help Center content, and public ticket pages for families, Mojo Helpdesk makes it easier for school districts to deliver fast, consistent support without adding complexity for their IT teams.