Meet Julie Sprague, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent of Kettle Falls School District in Washington, where Informed K12 is used to manage a variety of district processes, including purchase orders, athletics requests, and bus requests.
When you are used to routing a piece of paper to different buildings for signatures, then waiting for it to return to you, the thought of it all being done in an email is very different... Technology is allowing us to increase our efficiencies of getting our work completed. Informed K12 is allowing us to experience part of that change. We can complete forms with multiple signatures, from multiple buildings, in only a matter of minutes and without ever leaving our office. As we prepare our students to move into the 21st century, it is just as important that we move there with them.
Can you share your background and how you came to Kettle Falls?
I have only been with the Kettle Falls School District for a short amount of time, and in my time here I love the changes we are starting to implement…. one of the most exciting being the electronic signatures! I came to Kettle Falls School District with nearly 10 years of experience from another school district. During that time, I covered a wide range of duties including building secretary, ALE programs, Athletics and District Office. As I look back at my experience in these different areas, I know first hand that there are so many ways electronic signatures can help to save time and effort on paperwork!
Why did you implement electronic forms?
We decided to implement electronic forms at Kettle Falls because we knew how this could help cut down the amount of time that staff use to track forms. Whether it be parent forms or internal forms, we could improve our processes! The use of technology is changing the way we do office work, and the use of electronic signatures expands our abilities! We know how many parents have and use smart phones and other means of technology, so using digital forms should make completing paperwork simple. We are continually looking to see how we can be more efficient.
What surprised you about using Informed K12?
What surprised me the most as we ventured down this road, was how hard it was for staff to change. Many don’t want this change nor are they willing embrace the change. When you are used to routing a piece of paper to different buildings for signatures, then waiting for it to return to you, the thought of it all being done in an email is very different. Same goes for sending papers home in backpacks and waiting (and hoping) it will come back, the thought of emailing the forms to parents is very foreign.
What did you and your team learn along the way?
We have learned so many things along the way that I don’t think I could possibly share them all, however there are a few key things that I think are important!
Create an implementation plan and share it! Educate the staff on why you are making this change and the benefits for it. Make a list of all possible forms in which you could use – including internal and external forms. From there, decide what would be most useful to start with, and implement those first. We started using electronic forms over the summer to gather athletic paperwork. We hadn’t shared the whole plan with staff or our parents very well, and for that reason I do not believe we got a very good response. As we look back now, we should have done a much better job at educating everyone, which in turn would have created a better response. On a positive note, those who used our electronic forms over the summer gave us positive feedback, so we know the parents liked using them!
Start using the forms internally so the staff can see how it feels. I have the perfect opportunity in my position to start using the forms with staff since so many things interact with the district office. As I listened to administrators and other staff talk about issues that concern them in different areas, it made me stop and think of how we could eliminate issues and work more efficiently.
One example was an elementary school that was frustrated with sending bus requests to the bus garage. They were emailing, faxing and sending inter-office forms for each bus request to ensure that it got to the bus garage! Wow…that is a lot of extra work! By creating a form that can be routed to multiple people for signatures, and a confirmation email, then everyone would know the form was received and completed!
This same issue came with purchase order forms at our high school. Many items were being purchased prior to getting all the appropriate signatures for the purchase order. Teachers were frustrated it took so long to gather all signatures and wait for the form to be returned to them. We created an electronic signature PO form that is initiated by a teacher, then routed to the secretary, the principal and the district office for a quick turn around. These simple processes can reduce the stress load, speed up completion times and allow staff to see how electronic signature forms feel. Once they are comfortable, it will make it easier for them to promote and help parents use electronic signature forms as well. After using the forms themselves, it is easier to brainstorm ideas to implement additional electronic signature forms.
The latest forms I have been working on are contracts. Since I send out contracts, I have been able to start sending out coaching contracts to new coaches and supplemental contracts to certificated staff. In doing this, it is allowing them to experience how it feels to use the forms firsthand, and just how quick and simple it is! As we progress through the year, I am working toward sending out all of next year’s coaching and teaching contracts to staff with electronic signatures. This will allow us to reach a large population of staff in the district. It still amazes me just how quickly I can get something back that has multiple signatures…I love it!
Talk to the wonderful people at Informed K12! They have been the most helpful part of this whole experience. Their knowledge of working with other districts that may have had some of the same growing pains has been so helpful. They are not just here to sell you a product…they want this to work for you!
What do you think it means to be a "21st century" school or district office?
I would envision the 21st century school and district offices to eliminate the boundaries of where productivity happens. Technology has a huge impact on our secretarial work and it can allow us to work anywhere, anyhow and anytime. I do not ever see the physical role of a school secretary going away as a major part of our role is to be there for students. However, technology is allowing us to increase our efficiencies of getting our work completed. Informed K12 is allowing us to experience part of that change. We can complete forms with multiple signatures, from multiple buildings, in only a matter of minutes and without ever leaving our office. As we prepare our students to move into the 21st century, it is just as important that we move there with them.
