Geary County Programs Deploy KidTrax to Meet Reporting Needs

When the State of Kansas started requiring online data entry, Katina Brenn, District Coordinator of Innovation in Schools & Community Programs at Geary County Schools in Junction City, lobbied for a system that could meet this requirement. She also needed a system that would help her manage over 1,500 students at multiple sites, compile annual progress reports, prove to funders which programs were working, and allow her and her staff more time to spend with students.

She discovered KidTrax. “Several of the companies I contacted wouldn’t work with me at first,” expressed Brenn. “They     wanted us to purchase a separate system for each of our sites. Financially, KidTrax was the best option because of the         multi-site reporting capabilities,” she says.

This wasn’t the only advantage for Brenn. With 15 sites running programs like Alternative & After-School Programs/ 21stCentury Learning Centers, and the Boys & Girls Club, Brenn also needed a system that could automate time and attendance and provide a standard and more accurate way to handle data. “I had a staff member at each site dedicated to tracking time and attendance, managing data, and completing reports,” says Brenn. "At the end of the year, I would get the reports, and they were all in different formats from manual rosters to Excel spreadsheets. It would take me nearly two months to pull the data I needed and consolidate it on one spreadsheet, so I could calculate days attended in different ratios.”

Brenn estimates that by implementing KidTrax, she has dramatically cut the amount of administrative time needed to gather information. “It is amazing how much time and paperwork KidTrax has saved me and my staff members,” said Brenn. “I would estimate it to be around 50%.” That staff time has been reallocated to working with the kids.

MoneyTrax, an add-on module to KidTrax, is the next software tool Brenn will implement. "Planning has really been the key. We purchased everything up front, but elected to roll it out in phases," explains Brenn. "This allowed everyone to get up to speed without overwhelming them ... we're ready for the next step and are looking forward to seeing how MoneyTrax will help us become even more efficient."