Waukegan Public Schools Enrolls PaperVision® and Finds Files 90% Faster!

Client

Waukegan Public School District 60

Digitech Systems Reseller:

RhinoDox

Problem

Documents took up too much space.

Solution

PaperVision® Capture and PaperVision® Enterprise

Recognized Benefit

Improved the manageability of documents and sped information retrieval by 90%!

Waukegan Public School District 60 prides itself on providing top-notch education and creating a prosperous environment for students. But, when filing cabinets began to roam the hallways, that environment started feeling cluttered. To get their space (and their sanity) back, Waukegan Public Schools turned to PaperVision, an enterprise content management (ECM) system.

Enhanced the records retrieval process, finding documents 90% faster.

Login/logout information better protects documents and helps the district maintain compliance with FERPA and IDEA.

Decreased printing, shipping and paper handling costs.

The Situation

Located in Illinois on Lake Michigan, Waukegan Public Schools serve nearly 17,000 students, preschool through twelfth grade. The district operates 15 elementary schools, five middle schools, a preschool program and a high school program with two campuses.

With so many students across multiple locations, paper records were growing exponentially, especially in the special education department. Individualized Education Plan documents (IEPs), the document that determines a student’s needs, were taking up the bulk of this collection. Since 2006, the district’s entire student population’s medical files were added to the compliance sector of responsibility. Although the district has a dedicated spot for housing these records, it simply wasn’t cutting it. Janine Gruhn, Director of Special Education, Secondary Programs and Compliance explained that record storage began to take over productive space. In fact, the room for these files and documents was overflowing, and they were forced to start storing file cabinets in the hallways. “We kept getting file cabinet after file cabinet,” Gruhn said. “Although we were very organized, we didn’t have enough space for all of the records.”

Another problem that occasionally occurred was lack of resources. Robert Jones, the Central File Secretary at Waukegan, is great at his job, but when he is out, staff members would scramble to find a document. This was extremely easy for organized Jones, but it was difficult for those who didn’t know his system. “He could find a file so quickly,” Gruhn explained. “But if he wasn’t here, that would be a major issue. We really depended on that one person to access the records.”

Even though he had a solid system, it was time-consuming. Previously, Jones would receive a request for a file. He’d then physically hunt it down, make a copy, circulate it, and finally return the file to its original home. Completing each request, start to finish, took Jones approximately 10 minutes. On average, he receives about 135 requests for files per week. Before implementing ECM, it would take him 22.5 hours per week to complete that load, backing him up for an entire week.

The Solution

Addressing these concerns head on, Waukegan Public School District 60 decided to get proactive and change the way they were managing paper documents. With assistance from RhinoDox, a Digitech Systems reseller, the district decided in late 2011 to implement PaperVision Capture to scan incoming paper documents and PaperVision Enterprise to manage the files. Gruhn’s main goals were to 1) have every document filed electronically, 2) maintain the existing order of the files and 3) gain the ability to find the files quickly. It was also important for certain staff members to have access to the system. Both products went live in February 2012, and getting everyone on board was simple. Training took less than one week.

Since the launch, Jones “couldn’t be happier”! Today, new files are scanned as they arrive and managed entirely electronically. It is a much more efficient process, Gruhn noted. The time savings are impressive. Today, Jones completes requests for files in just one minute, a 90% increase in time savings! The 135 requests he receives weekly no longer get backed up, he finishes them all in the same day. “I’m in heaven,” Jones exclaimed.

Plus, the space savings will be significant. The room used to house files takes up approximately 800 square feet, which Gruhn said could eventually be used for meeting space, an office or other staff needs. “Space is always at a premium,” she said. “This will open up other options.”

“We had so many files that storage was becoming a major problem. We needed better access to our information. PaperVision Capture and PaperVision Enterprise help us find documents faster and more efficiently.”

-Janine Gruhn, Director of Special Education Secondary Programs & Compliance, Waukegan Public Schools

There’s more. When documents are stored electronically, Gruhn mentioned, the district maintains better compliance, and student information is ultimately more secure. With paper, they were keeping manual logs of who viewed each file. Today, that happens automatically, electronically, giving the district better control of their documents. Now that files are stored in electronic format, it’s easier to monitor who sees each and every document and summarize it in a simple audit report. Gruhn also finds it easier to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Since implementing PaperVision products, Waukegan also saves money on various printing and paper costs. The plan going forward is to scan all incoming documents. They have started this process already. The district wants to ensure that every single document being stored in paper format is scanned and readable. As they continue this transformation, they’ll go through the proper procedures to destroy existing paper files. This means Gruhn and her team will make a presentation to the school board later to update the board members on their progress and to ensure the continued use of PaperVision Capture and PaperVision Enterprise.

About RhinoDox

RhinoDox has a long history as a fourth generation family-owned business that spans many major world events of the 21st century. Founded in 1913, the company offers complete document solutions including eforms, workflow, document imaging, electronic data storage, physical storage and shredding services. Visit www.rhinodox.com to learn more.