TEA Winner: Oregon District Improves Parent Communications

• Industry: School District
• Location: Sherwood, Oregon
• Employees: 500
• Population: 5,320
• Tyler Client Since: 2019
• Tyler Products Used: Student Transportation, My Ride K-12, Tyler Drive, School ERP Pro

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Challenges

The work of transporting students is challenging, with so many crucial details to manage. The last thing a transportation department needs is to be fighting their technology, but that was exactly what the team at Sherwood School District was facing. As the needs of their district grew, their routing management software couldn’t grow with them. The software restricted the number of users in the system, meaning the transportation department had to rely on just three of their 16 team members to input, manage, and report on student transportation information. This meant work couldn’t be assigned efficiently and the district could not offer self-serve access to other district staff, such as the front office team. This led to regular calls and emails sent to the transportation office.

Moreover, the software was disjointed and time-consuming to use. “It required users to operate within different screens,” Transportation Director Sandi Miller explained. “Even the staff who did have licenses for the software spent too much time on basic tasks,” such as adding a stop or updating a student’s address. She knew it was time for a change.

Solution

After exploring multiple solutions, the district opted for Tyler’s Student Transportation software. Their first goal was to take advantage of features such as unlimited users and flexible permissions. Allowing proper staff access to routing plans, student assignments, and activity trip requests was essential.

Miller increased access to the software to 100% of her department staff. Now, her entire team can directly manage all aspects of their operation, allowing work to be done more effectively. Additionally, they extended access to other departments across the district with limited permissions, allowing access only to relevant information. Today, the athletics department can submit requests for transportation, and administrators at the schools can look up student transportation assignments without having to call or email Miller’s team.

Beyond this, the software began to improve efficiency with its easy-to-learn interface. According to Miller, “It only took two hours to start making a difference.” She explained that her lead router needed only two hours of dedicated training time with Tyler’s implementers before they could use the program independently. Soon, staff could complete basic tasks in less than half the time they had taken before.

Results

The Sherwood School District transportation team has continued to leverage their Student Transportation software to improve service and increase efficiency. When asked to describe the difference, Miller said, “It’s been a game changer. It’s all been a game changer.” She explained, “One of our district goals was to utilize technology to increase services to our families. Before, our only option [when we needed to send a communication] was to use a flash alert that went to every parent in the district, which created a lot of confusion.” The district added the My Ride K-12 parent communication app to their operation in 2021 and saw an immediate difference. “We went from having no direct communication with parents to being able to send a quick push notification out. Now if there is a bus delay or changes to the route, we can send out notifications to just our families that are impacted,” said Miller. To ensure that as many of their families as possible could be reached via My Ride K-12, Miller and her team set a goal to reach an app adoption rate of 80% among parents and guardians. They got the word out about its benefits and were able to exceed their goal. Today, more than 90% of Sherwood School District families use the app.

They also increased efficiency. With so many districts recruiting new bus drivers, the recent change to the federal Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) standards prompted Miller to focus on recordkeeping. She was documenting all training opportunities, both big and small, and began using the Training module in Student Transportation to help her better track department training sessions. Her routers were also able to save time: because the software allows them to set up multiple instances of routing schemes, they can determine which will be most effective without overriding previous information. This has been especially helpful when planning for summer school without needing to alter the fall or spring semester plans to do so.

Sherwood’s newest opportunities come with its addition of Tyler Drive tablets to their technology suite. Miller is excited to provide turn-by-turn directions for drivers, including sharing route changes and street restrictions more clearly and efficiently. They’re also doing away with paper inspection forms by using the tablets to electronically fill, sign, and submit pre- and post-trip vehicle inspection reports, saving more than 300 pieces of paper per week.

What’s next for the district? Miller said she plans to find even more ways to leverage technology: “I’m always thinking down the road to what I will need."