K-12 Education Success Stories

Memorialize payroll retirement data and student transcripts from paper records, Skyward and PowerSchool.

K-12 EDUCATION SUCCESS STORIES

Until 1990, most agency business information was regularly filed as a structured process. This made finding information fast and effective. After 1990, things changed dramatically following introduction of networked PC’s. This allowed anyone to index and file information at random. Very soon, the disciplined process of filing fell by the wayside. Without departmental standards, this can make finding information slow and ineffective.

Quickly fulfill DRS requests!

FreeDoc® can memorialize Payroll retirement data and student transcripts from Skyward and PowerSchool.

Since 2000, much ‘information’ is managed in data programs like PowerSchool and Skyward SMS. As these programs are updated you may rightfully ask, “What happens to the records?” FreeDoc^®has been structuring K12 records since 2001 and can now memorialize payroll retirement data and student transcripts!

The State of Washington legally defines the time district information (CORE) is to be retained for lookup when requested by Department of Retirement Systems. For this reason, legal retention of Payroll and Retirement records is a minimum of either 60-years after last date of employment, or 100 years from employee date of birth (see page 136). The legal retention for official Student Transcripts is 100-years after graduation, or withdrawal (see page 63). To ensure survivability, the recommended and preferred file format is TIFF. This is because Retirement records and Student Transcripts are to be retained for periods greater than 10-years.

As both a WSIPC and TIPS Purchasing Partner, FreeDoc^® provides preferred pricing to qualifies agencies. With 26-years of K-12 records experience, FreeDoc^® works so you can find what you need.

Below are 5-Washington districts where FreeDoc^® has improved individual performance and reduced district expense.

Payroll Retirement Histories and Transcripts – Cloud Preservation and Access

Since 1999 FreeDoc^® has been helping districts with cost-effective solutions to manage district records. FreeDoc^® now collaborates with WSIPC to memorialize records from Skyward SMS.

Using WSIPC purchasing contract #21-01, Districts can receive premium pricing for services to export Skyward HR, payroll / retirement data and transcripts. Verifying individual retirement histories is a complex and time consuming process. With custom reporting this process can happen quickly and efficiently. Individual records are indexed by person(s) and SY to simplify lookup and fulfill the records requests. Reports are customizable as needed.

Goals:

Serve the information needs of teachers, administrators, and graduates
Respond to Dept of Retirement records requests for payroll / retirement related information
Simply locate Employee retirement histories
Simply maintain Official Student Transcripts
Manage all records within an encrypted, DoD compliant cloud systems
Provide cloud-based automation of district information

Solution:

FreeDoc^® worked in partnership with Washington State Archives, Washington Secretary of State, and Dept of Retirement Systems to identify the requirements, then define specific retirement and payroll data necessary to extract from Skyward SMS for long-term retention by the district. Initially researched at the request of Lake Washington School District, this unique solution is now available to individual districts through a unique relationship with WSIPC.

Employee reporting data is extracted from your district’s Skyward database, parsed as required, then visually rendered in a custom report. Each report is searchable by individual employee (name and other index data) and SY, then filed into a secure, DoD encrypted cloud record center.

Custom retirement payroll reports created with data extracted from Skyward SMS

Result:

Each record is explicitly indexed by individual index data within distinct templates. Anyone doing ‘retirement research’ will appreciate the ease of finding payroll records by Name or School Year (SY). Records are also ‘word-searchable’. This can locate individual data deep within scanned payroll registrars.

The cloud record center also provides AI generated summaries of the document, or image. This unique service provides meaningful information about documents of an size. It is very effective for ‘board minutes and resolutions’.

Payroll & Retirement Records – Cloud Preservation and Access

“We chose to adopt online storage with digital records scanning. We selected FreeDoc ® because they specialize in file management for school districts. After reviewing their proposal with our district employees, we agreed to move forward with the transition.

FreeDoc ® came to our location to box and inventory our HR retirement records and Student Transcripts for secure transport to their facility just north of Seattle. The entire process was incredibly efficient, fast, and well-communicated. Their team responded quickly to every question or concern to ensure a smooth transition. The software is simple to learn, and simple to use.

Overall, this has significantly improved our file management system, allowing faster access, better organization, and enhanced user experience. I can quickly fulfill DRS requests! I can find anything!”

Director of Human Resources, Pioneer School District

Background:

Located on the Kitsap Peninsula midway between Olympia and Hood Canal.

This growing suburban district had accumulated almost 500 boxes of paper Personnel and Payroll records since the school’s opening date. As the district grew, the boxes were relocated to different store-rooms. This slowed finding records when requested by the Dept of Retirement Systems (DRS).

Goal:

“Reduce time spent to find records as requested by Dept of Retirement Systems so we can increase the time we spend supporting our staff and students.”

Solution:

The solution called for filtering and identifying records by Name, Date, Type, and Disposition Authority Number (DAN). Old records past retention were filtered and removed. Payroll, Retirement and HR records records were scanned, digitized and indexed by Disposition Authority Number, Date, Category, Record Type and Name.

The records were then uploaded into a new DoD encrypted cloud record system for lookup by the district.

Each record includes distinct templates in a word-searchable format with AI generated summaries. This is especially helpful to provide meaningful information about larger documents such as bond filings. It works great for board minutes and resolutions too!

Student Transcripts – Cloud Preservation and Access

“I’ve been impressed with the care taken to transform ‘my’ precious paper, the customer relationship and the professional manner in which business is conducted. All transcripts are now secure and readily available.”

Elizabeth Snodgrass, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, White River School District

Background:

With 4,100 students, White River School District No. 416 is a highly rated school district in the shadow of Mount Rainier, WA.

To retrieve a transcript for elementary, middle or high school students, school officials had to walk down and back-up several floors prior to FreeDoc^®.

Goals:

Reduce time and effort to process a transcript request.
Digitize paper student transcripts
Extract and preserve student transcripts from Skyward
Memorialize transcripts in a secure cloud system that the District could manage for ongoing ease of access

Solution:

First, FreeDoc^® extracted the transcripts from Skyward. Next, FreeDoc^® scanned and indexed the legacy paper transcripts. The index structure for both sets of records was matched. Both were uploaded into a secure DoD cloud records system that is simple to access and managed by the district.

The time saved by district staff alone more than recovered the expense. Most importantly, the student transcripts are secure from disaster.

Student Transcripts – Cloud Preservation and Access

Background:

Holy Names Academy is the oldest continually operating high school in the State of Washington. It was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in 1880 – nine years before Washington officially became a state (1889!)

The school has been named a Blue Ribbon School four separate times by the U.S. Department of Education and has just over 500 students.

The school initially contacted FreeDoc^® in 2008. The goal was digitize the entire library of original paper transcripts from the school’s earliest days through 2008.

Paper transcripts were scanned and indexed by Student Name, Date Of Birth, and Year of graduation. The records were imported into OpenText ApplicationXtender, which offered an early version CD-based software interface. In the same way new records were memorialized each year. As technology changed, cloud offered a more suitable platform with ongoing updates and enhanced security.

Goals:

Extract proprietary files and index data from ApplicationXtender
Convert to open industry standard TIFF image files
Build a file structure suitable for cataloging all transcripts
Upload into a DoD encrypted cloud system for access and management by the School
Provide training for the Registrar and School IT Director

Solution:

FreeDoc^® extracted the records from the legacy file format. The files were converted to industry standard TIFF format. The index metadata was then extracted and converted to .csv data. Both were imported into the FreeDoc^® PSICapture Workflow system. This created an upload file.

Next, FreeDoc^® provisioned a DoD secure, encrypted cloud record system. A file plan was designed and to catalog 10-decades of transcripts. All years of student transcripts became available after upload. Each record is indexed by distinct templates in a word-searchable format with AI generated summaries.

The site was presented to the customer and individual user-training was provided. A small amount of customization was provided so the Registrar could add a custom ‘stamp’ for annotation of the transcript images.

Going forward, new PDF transcripts can be exported from PowerSchool SIS annually. These can be converted to TIFF files and uploaded into the cloud record system for preservation and access by the school Registrar.

Student Transcripts – Cloud Preservation and Access

Background:

Shoreline School District (No. 412) is a public school district in King County, Washington serving the cities of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. District boundaries span the border of King County and Snohomish County. A staff 1,100 serves an enrollment of 9,500 students (as of SY 20–21). The District has 15 schools, including 2 high schools, Shorecrest and Shorewood.

Historically speaking, microfilm was the preferred method to archive and preserve student transcripts. FreeDoc ® began helping the school by microfilming paper transcripts. As general microfilm usage declined, the expense began to increase. As technologies progressed FreeDoc ® maintained invested in solutions to preserve long-term records with relevant services.

By 2015, FreeDoc ® had developed a digital service for FERPA compliant web access to encrypted digital transcripts. FreeDoc ® digitally scanned transcripts, then encoded both the digital image files and the index data onto archival film for long-term backup. This unique back-up process was called Advanced Index Microfilm^™(AIM).

Goals:

Reduce the expense to preserve the records
Make the transcripts readily available
Use long-term open industry standard TIFF image files
Build a file structure suitable for cataloging all transcripts
Upload into a DoD encrypted cloud system for access and management by the School
Provide training for the Registrar and School IT Director

Solution:

As technologies progressed, the film back-up process was replaced with a secure DoD Compliant Cloud service in 2019. The site was presented to the customer and individual training was provided.

Today, this low-cost, DoD encrypted cloud record system securely maintains a catalog of decades of transcripts.

Each year new records are now memorialized into the cloud site. FreeDoc ® scans the transcripts to individually indexed TIFF images and pushes these into the district’s encrypted cloud site through a secure connection for web access by the district.

FreeDoc® can help you quickly fulfill DRS requests. Preserve Payroll data and Student Transcripts. save your district time and money.

To learn more contact Rebekah Lumansoc [email protected] / (425) 977-4222, ext. 223.

Mention WSIPC RFP 21-01 for special contract pricing!

FreeDoc^® provides Tier One Support for best-in-class customer service.

Along with written customer reviews and technical testing of System Engineers, FreeDoc^® is uniquely qualified as one of just 17-US Premier Laserfiche Partners.

FreeDoc® is the only US Premier Partner to offer:

Cloud Systems

Legacy Migrations

System Conversions

Document Scanning

Records Consulting

Records Clean-up

Our experience helps us perform on every any project.

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Call us! Let’s have a conversation.

Call (425) 977 – 4222, ext. 223.

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