How Muhlenberg School District Built a Strong HR Foundation with Frontline Education’s HR Management Suite

When Dr. Jessica Heffner walked into Muhlenberg School District in August 2022, she found no HR system – only folders, boxes, and spreadsheets. Coming from the corporate world, she had experience with full-featured HR systems and knew that unless the HR department found a new solution, the compliance risks were significant. “I personally do not like [spreadsheets]. There’s no integrity,” she said. 

The pressure was clear: modernize fast or stay stuck in paperwork. 

District Profile

Muhlenberg School District sits in Berks County, Pennsylvania and serves about 4,000 students. A two‑person HR team consisting of Dr. Heffner and one assistant supports 560 employees spread across four schools. Limited staff and resources heighten the cost of every extra step. Dr. Heffner, a 30‑year HR veteran in education and healthcare, was hired to start an HR department from scratch once again. 

Despite its modest size, Muhlenberg faces challenges common to larger districts: rising competition for certified teachers, stricter reporting rules, and a community that expects quick, transparent communication. Without dedicated HR technology, even minor clerical mistakes can ripple into delayed hires, overtime costs, or compliance fines. Building a reliable data foundation was not optional. It was mission‑critical for retaining talent and public trust. 

Challenges Before Frontline

Paper overload. Jobs posted on bulletin boards attracted stacks of paper applications. Each packet passed from HR to principals and back. “We were using paper applications and boxes, which is frightening from a compliance standpoint.” 

Risk of bias. Lacking structured, time‑stamped workflows, HR had no way to prove that every application received equal review. That was a vulnerability that could grow into a legal dispute at the worst possible time. 

Compliance gaps. “My whole life is wrapped in compliance,” Dr. Heffner said. Without an audit trail the district could not prove equal review of candidates or secure storage. “Are we looking at all the applications that come in? Are we collecting the right data? Is our application up to date? Are we asking the things we should be asking? Are we asking things we shouldn’t be asking? Where are we storing these things? How long are we storing them, if we’re storing them? If we have applications that are five years old, are we going back and looking through them? Are they archived? I mean, it just goes on and on and on.” 

Data mistakes. A payroll‑first finance platform mislabeled certifications, creating risk for teachers and the district alike. 

Time sinks. HR spent hours printing, filing, and chasing signatures instead of guiding staff.

Why Muhlenberg Chose Frontline

HR first. As Muhlenberg evaluated systems for the HR department to use, they wanted something that was built for human resources. The other system they considered was a  finance system, which created risks for HR because it wasn’t built with the unique needs of K-12 HR in mind. Frontline’s solutions are designed for human resources professionals in school districts. 

Built for schools and budgets. In many ways, the needs of the world of education differ dramatically from those of other industries. Dr. Heffner wanted a system that was built for the nuances of K-12 – which not every system can deliver. “Some of the other HR solutions are very pricey and not built for schools.” 

All of HR under one umbrella. “I wanted something that we could use, not 14 different pieces that we were going to try to meld together, but one unit that would work well together.” Frontline Recruiting & Hiring, Frontline Central, Frontline Professional Growth, and Frontline Absence & Time share data between one another and are increasingly built to work together. 

A future‑ready partner. “If you’re not investing in your future, you’re not moving forward,” Dr. Heffner observed. “Frontline seems to be investing in its future.” 

Implementation and Early Wins 

Frontline’s team helped Dr. Heffner launch Frontline Recruiting & Hiring in just a few weeks. “We got away from the paper applications. That gives us the ability to provide a confirmation number when people apply. They know that you got the application, which cuts down on phone calls.” 

Self‑service onboarding. New hires now finish I‑9s, W‑4s, policy acknowledgments, and induction surveys online. HR reviews in minutes, not days. 

Tuition reimbursement. “I use it all the time for tuition reimbursement. We used to use four different colored papers. The first thing I did away with was the different colored papers. I said, ‘We’re going online.’ And what’s nice about that is the employee can see where in the process it is.” 

Teacher evaluations. “We have the teacher evaluations being done in Frontline this year, which is great. The teachers actually like the evaluation better in Frontline than they did using [our previous system].” 

Trusted data. With a single, secure location for data and robust reporting abilities, the HR department can now deliver accurate reports to leadership as well as to the state. 

Implementation Highlights

Real‑time dashboards. Dr. Heffner logs in each morning to see how many vacancies sit open, which teacher certificates will expire within six months, and where each onboarding packet stands. 

Collaborative workflows. Principals start a requisition that auto‑routes to HR for sign‑off. At each step the system stamps a time and name, so everyone sees progress without sending a message. 

Self‑service visibility. Applicants track their application from submission to interview invite. New staff watch onboarding forms move from “pending” to “approved” in real time, which slashes phone calls and anxiety. 

Outcomes and Future Plans

With Frontline, Dr. Heffner shared numerous benefits her department now enjoys: 

More time for people. “HR should be human resources. I know places where people don’t trust HR. My reputation is, I will always be truthful with my staff. There may be times I tell them things they don’t want to hear, but they will learn to trust me because I will always be honest with them.” She has a regular routine of visiting each building at least once a month. “I set up over a lunch break so that they can come see me, without an appointment, if they choose. I want them to understand that we’re here to help them. They can contact me for anything. I want them to understand that. The hours spent with people filling out paper packets, we don’t do that now. They can do it online. That gives us more time to spend on the things that are really important.” 

While Dr. Heffner’s days are just as busy as they were previously, now she says she can spend her time on the parts of the job that make a meaningful difference to the culture of the district and the kind of workplace it is. “It allows me to give more of my time to the things that are more important, like meeting with people who need to take family and medical leave. That’s more important than sitting with somebody while they’re filling out a W‑4.” 

Transparency and auditability. “It’s really nice because there is a record. Just like anything in a computer… forensically, it is always there.” 

Faster hires. Principals now fill critical roles up to two weeks sooner because pre‑screened candidate pools reach them first. 

Cleaner data. “When they see how it comes out, even my assistant superintendent said, ‘The data is so much better.’” 

Stronger Compliance, Lower Risk

Paper files make for slow, challenging, and potentially incomplete compliance processes. With Frontline, every change, including who made it and when, lives in the system. During the last state audit, Dr. Heffner produced a complete report in minutes. The auditor praised the district’s “exceptionally clear record trail,” and HR spent the saved hours meeting with staff instead of hunting for paper. 

Looking Forward

Dr. Heffner plans to use Frontline’s dashboards to compare recruiting sources, measure induction progress, and flag departments at risk for turnover. Each new insight loops back into strategy, reinforcing a culture of continuous improvement. 

In under three years, Muhlenberg School District moved from paperwork to a modern, evidence‑rich HR practice. Frontline gave Dr. Heffner a reliable foundation of data and workflows that free her two‑person team to focus on people, not paper. For other school leaders facing tight budgets and rising compliance pressure, Muhlenberg’s story proves that a phased, HR‑led rollout can deliver fast wins, stronger records, and lasting cultural change.