How Frontline Absence & Time Made Human Resources and Payroll Accurate (and Easier) for a Small School District

Culver Community School Corporation (CCSC) is a small, rural district with about 800 students spread across four counties in northern Indiana. In the past, managing HR and payroll efficiently was a challenge, especially with a small administrative team.

Eva Reinhold, Deputy Treasurer and HR lead, handled numerous tasks, making time management crucial. “I do a lot,” Eva says, noting the challenge that wearing multiple hats brings. “We are a small district, so it’s just me and the business manager handling everything.”

CCSC operates with a small administrative team and previously relied on manual processes for time tracking and absence management. Without an automated system, keeping up with time tracking and payroll and managing substitute teachers was overwhelming.

The Struggle: Paperwork, Errors, and Lost Time

Before switching to Frontline, keeping track of employee time meant hunting down timecards, which employees filled out by hand. “Trying to get them tracked down, employees not filling them out properly…it was time-consuming,” Eva notes. Payroll processing required extra work just to make sure everything added up.

Absence management was another pain point. The district used spreadsheets to track substitute teachers, and calling subs manually was a daily headache. “We had to call substitutes manually, which was time-consuming,” Eva says. “Sometimes, by the time we reached them, they had already accepted another job elsewhere.” There was no easy way for teachers to request substitutes, making an already tricky process even harder.

Compliance and reporting were also a hassle. Everything was on paper, making it hard for HR to ensure compliance with internal audits. “We had to manually check and double-check everything,” Eva recalls. “It was draining.”

The Solution: Moving to Frontline Absence & Time

CCSC had been using Frontline Absence Management for years but they decided to take the next step and add Time & Attendance. This allowed the district to toss their paper-based time tracking and move everything online. “We used to have paper timecards,” Eva remembers, and for a while, the district also tracked time on paper as a backup. “But we found that this system is way better because we can actually timestamp and track them.”

With Frontline Absence & Time, CCSC gained:

• Digital time tracking with timestamps, notes, and job role differentiation
• Automated absence reporting and substitute teacher placement
• A master calendar for tracking paid holidays
• Seamless payroll integration for multiple job roles and pay rates

“We love the master calendar,” Eva adds. “We can put in all our paid holidays for 10-month and 12-month employees, and it automatically applies when needed.”

The Impact: Less Hassle, More Accuracy

Switching to Frontline Absence & Time brought numerous benefits. Payroll processing is now smoother and more efficient. Tracking employee hours, especially for those with multiple roles, is simpler and more accurate. “An employee who works multiple jobs in the corporation can track their time in each particular position. That has really been nice,” Eva says.

Frontline also made it easier to reconcile leave and worked hours. “Before, we had to manually write vacation days on timecards,” Eva recalls. “Now, if I take a vacation day, I just put it in Frontline, and it prints right on my timecard.”

Substitute management saw major improvements, too. Substitutes can choose jobs independently, and teachers can assign substitutes as needed. “It has been really great. Once we get all of our subs in, they have the opportunity to select jobs, and the teachers can assign one that they need,” Eva explains. Administrators can also see which substitutes are available, and which have taken assignments in other districts. “I like that feature — you can see that they have taken a job somewhere else.”

This transparency led to higher fill rates for substitute positions. “The only complaint I ever get is that they aren’t seeing jobs, but that’s because they’re already all taken,” Eva notes.

Beyond efficiency, Frontline Absence & Time also improved accuracy and compliance. Digital records put an end to errors from manual entry, ensuring payroll accuracy. Administrators are more confident in their ability to track absences, substitutes, and payroll data in real time, and life is smoother for HR.