Frisco ISD has been honored by Laserfiche Corporation with the 2013 Run Smarter Award for Innovation in K-12 Education.

The international award honors organizations that succeed in promoting organizational agility through innovative use of the Laserfiche Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions. 

More than 34,000 organizations worldwide — including federal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies — use Laserfiche software to streamline documents, records and business process management.

"Winners are chosen by a committee of Lasherfiche experts based on the creativity of the solution, the operational improvements they've realized, their use of Laserfiche software and resources, and the inspirational potential for other Laserfiche users to think more inventively of solutions in their own organizations," said Melissa Henley of Laserfiche.

FISD has used the ECM platform across several departments and operations including document management, workflow, electronic forms processing and applications integration.

“We’re really changing the way we work and do business as a District,” said Dr. Mike Waldrip, Frisco ISD Deputy Superintendent of Administrative Operations. “This technology has allowed us to improve our process for handling new employees, student transfers, teacher contracts, purchase requests and so much more.”

Increasingly gone are the days of filing and paper pushing. A transition is underway to migrate paper documentation to a digital imaging database.

“By making these files electronic, we are more easily able to search data, evaluate trends and control security and access,” said Bob Allen, Frisco ISD Director of Business Applications and Process. “The system stores documents that used to be printed, copied and filed simultaneously in several departments. Now the information is available in a database to everyone who needs it.”

Laserfiche forms are being used to phase out existing forms tools, provide student success planning, automate the tracking of homeless students, process simple purchase requests and more.

Robust workflows support personnel hiring, onboarding, employee notifications, electronic signature, inter-department data notifications and teacher assessment warehousing, among other operations.

These automated processes are already proving to be more efficient and cost effective.

“The amount of time employees spend entering data into a computer or manually tracking documents is reduced, allowing them to focus their efforts on other responsibilities,” Allen said. “Less money is spent on paper, toner and postage to print, copy or mail documents.”

Frisco ISD purchased the Laserfiche software from DocuNav Solutions, a Frisco company, in 2012 for approximately $250,000. That investment has already paid off – process improvement is credited with more than $285,000 in savings during the 2012-2013 school year alone.

The potential for future savings is significant and opportunities for additional improvements will continue to be explored.

“This is really about cost avoidance as the District continues to grow,” Allen said. “As more and more students move into our schools, a top priority will continue to be putting quality teachers in the classroom, while also limiting the number of employees needed in administrative roles. It allows the District to make smarter decisions about how and where to allocate resources.”

To date, Frisco ISD has implemented, or is in the
process of implementing, changes in the following areas:

• Human Resources
  • Automated process for position inventory management, new hires and employees resigning, transferring or being re-assigned to new campuses
  • Electronic signatures for employee contracts, letters of reasonable assurance, employee handbooks, and Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS) evaluations
  • Digital imaging of personnel files
• Accounts Payable
  • Electronic retrieval of data
  • Electronic vendor invoicing
  • Automated reconciliation and payment
• Payroll
  • Electronic retrieval of data
  • Annual employee salary and benefits validation
  • Digital imaging of personnel files
• Curriculum & Instruction
  • Digital imaging of writing samples to help evaluate grading standards and track student progress 
  • Electronic tracking of homeless students
• Administrative Services
  • Automated process for student transfer requests
• Benefits
  • Electronic documents more easily accessible with restrictions based on security
  • Electronic acknowledgment for the Affordable Care Act
• Risk Management
  • Electronic tracking of inspections and incident investigations
  • Electronic document and photo imaging
• Child Nutrition, Transportation, Fine Arts, Maintenance and Energy Management
  • Electronic submission of purchasing invoices
• Health Services
  • Electronic forms for student health records