Human Resources | News

Fort Wayne Schools Clocks In with Time Management Software

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 04/24/13

Fort Wayne Community Schools, the largest school district in Indiana, has shifted its time management work to new software in an effort to save time and money. The search for a new application began in 2012 as the first phase of a project to replace the district's human resource and payroll system.

The district, with nearly 31,000 students and a staff of 4,265 in 51 schools, has signed a $453,746 contract with WorkForce Software to use its EmpCenter suite. The district will be paying $22,271 for annual maintenance.

EmpCenter enables organizations to track employee hours and absences, assign tasks, manage schedules, and monitor labor law compliance. Out of 10 proposals received during the request-for-proposal process, the district especially was drawn to the program's functionality for performing pay-rule calculation and managing leave. For example, the district has a unique workforce issue familiar to other school districts: Staff may have multiple assignments.

"An evaluation of our current processes made clear that removing manual intervention from time capture, attendance tracking, and [Family and Medical Leave Act] (FMLA) compliance would generate the greatest time and cost savings for our organization," said Jack Byrd, director of technology for the district. "We wanted a solution that could accommodate our intricate K-12 requirements as well as our compliance demands, without customization or work outside the system."

Byrd said the new time management platform would address "two critical goals": "EmpCenter's configurability allows us to automate all of our complex pay rules, while its [absence compliance tracker] solution provides an unmatched degree of case management and compliance support for the FMLA."