School business administrators have long recognized the need for a workable data recovery plan regardless of cause. Yet many have not reassessed their current data backup and recovery capabilities, perhaps because they have not experienced a catastrophic failure. There are three reasons school business administrators may not realize or recognize that their recovery plans have, in fact, left them vulnerable to unacceptable long-term data disruption: (1) Assumption that business data are safe; (2) Reliance on a tape backup system to retain and restore critical business data in the event of server malfunction; and (3) Failure to consider a recovery time objective (RTO) in the data recovery plan. One of the most important considerations in developing an effective data recovery plan is cost efficiency. School business administrators, always concerned about costs, can find their answer in a combination of the best of several options--a hybrid solution that ensures prompt data recovery without breaking the budget. In evaluating data recovery plans, it is important for school business administrators to begin with a business impact analysis that examines the three potential areas of vulnerability: safety and security of data, current backup, and an acceptable RTO for the district. Discussions with information technology personnel and the district's business software vendor can help steer the district toward the best solution.