A few years ago, Saginaw Public Schools in Michigan was using old-fashioned punch clocks and tallied the amount of hours from the punch cards for payroll. They decided to look for a better process. “We wanted to digitize the time tracking element for all our employees and track the time throughout their shift,” said Theodore, the Director of Technical Services. “When looking for another method, a Skyward integration was key and the biggest thing was figuring out the best way for our staff members to clock in and then get a clock that’s capable of that.”
In 2022, Saginaw Public Schools implemented School Technology’s newest TT7 time clock customized with proximity readers. “The clocks have the option to use either the access code that Skyward generates or our door access RFID badge. I’m able to export the RFID numbers out of that system then import all the badges into Skyward as needed. That makes it really simple to get up and running,” said Theodore.
One of the main advantages of School Technology’s new TT7 and TT10 clocks is that they run a Linux operating system. Theodore was asked about setting up the time clocks running Linux, “I’m knowledgeable on both Linux and Windows platforms, so it didn’t really affect me. But, there is not much backend interfacing that is needed, so I think it would affect people who are unfamiliar with Linux minimally.”
After Saginaw set up their new clocks with Skyward, they started rolling them out in small groups, then had those staff members train other staff. When asked what the clock users thought, Theodore said, “They were excited, they were ready for the modernization. The way the clocks have functioned, it’s been pretty flawless and everyone’s been excited they can use their ID badges to clock in.” Regarding the user interface on the clocks, “I think it’s pretty straightforward, it’s more or less a two click interface. You click once for the badge, then hit the ‘in’ or ‘out’ or ‘going out for lunch’. It’s simple and easy to read.”
While using the new time clocks, Saginaw Public Schools have seen multiple benefits and changes to their payroll system. “Now we are getting more of a historical tracking, we can do reports of when employees clocked in and clocked out. We couldn’t necessarily run those reports off the paper time clocks. That would have been a very tedious job if we wanted to audit a person’s punch time cards, to sit there and go through one by one, versus running a report and seeing what is going on there.”
Along with streamlining payroll, the Technical Director at Saginaw sees other direct benefits for staff. “Staff that travel to different buildings are able to clock in at each individual building. For example, if someone starts their day at a building that isn’t their traditional building to start at, they can actually clock in at that building instead of their traditional one, avoiding the extra drive,” said Theodore. “They can actually monitor and review their own historical time clock records in their Skyward profile. Making sure they are being paid what they are supposed to be paid, and being able to access that information is beneficial to all staff. Also, being able to have multiple options of how to clock in because if they forgot their ID badge they can use their access code, or if they forgot their access code they can use their ID badge. Then outside of that, Skyward has their own clock-in page that can be utilized if they forgot either of those things as well. I think it just makes it easier for staff on where and how they clock in.”
As the Director of Technical Services, Theodore said, “I’m a big fan of being able to do complete configuration and management of the clocks remotely. This makes it really easy, instead of having to have a staff member run out and access the panel or reboot the panel if we had to do something.”
Interested in learning more about School Technology’s TT7 and TT10 Time Clocks? Reach out to us at sales@k12sta.com or call 877-436-4657.
