How Attendance Software Can Both Save and Generate More Money For Your School

Going into the research portion of this article, we had a good idea that the numbers we uncovered would be fairly high.

But we were floored by what we uncovered. And it only reiterated just how important it was to publish this article.

To give you just a small sample…

“During the 2009-2010 term, traditional public schools in San Diego County lost out on at least $102 million in state funding because of absences…”



(Source: KPBS.org)

And that’s just in San Diego! Imagine what the totals were for the entire country.

But it’s not only the attendance of students that affects school finances and funding. The faculty and staff also play a significant role (as you’ll soon find out).

It goes without saying that if there were one industry where attendance software was needed the most, education would be the undisputed champion (both public and private, for-profit and non-profit).

You only need to look at the potential dangers of improper attendance tracking to understand why.

The Potential Dangers of Improper Attendance Tracking

As we alluded to earlier, it’s not just faculty and staff that affect attendance costs. Students also play a major role.

And that adds a whole new dimension to the dangers of manually tracking school attendance instead of using automated attendance software.

Here’s a brief overview of some of the more serious consequences that occur due to errors in attendance tracking for both students and employees:

Student Attendance Tracking

We’ve already established one of the most costly potential consequences: losing out on millions in state and district funding. And one of the major contributors to that loss (besides kids not showing up for school) is erroneous reporting of attendance.

It happens more often than you care to think. Teachers tasked with manually reporting student attendance are prone to making mistakes in recording the data (inadvertently marking a child as absent when they’re present, filling in information for the wrong child, etc.). And those mistakes can add up to several thousands of dollars in lost revenue per year.

Additionally, the teachers and faculty who take attendance are losing valuable time that they could be spending with the students. While seemingly small, the time can add up fast.

For example, let’s say each teacher spends just 1 minute (the bare minimum) per class per day marking attendance for students. He has 6 classes total throughout the day and works 5 days a week.

While the numbers can vary from source to source, we’ll say teachers at this school work 180 days per year. Do the math and that’s 6 minutes per day, 30 minutes each week, and 18 hours each year in lost time per teacher.

Employee Attendance Tracking

It’s not just the teachers that lose productive time by manually tracking attendance. The supervisors who track the teachers (faculty) and staff’s time also lose out on valuable time that could be better spent on more productive endeavors.

The average supervisor spends from 1 to 7 minutes per employee reviewing time cards each pay period. If the supervisor manages 30 employees and the pay period is just once per month, that’s up to 3 hours and 30 minutes lost each month.

Another very real concern is the potential for errors to lead to costly audits and legal fees that could multiply as time progresses.

How SoftTime Online’s Attendance Software Can Help

That’s enough of the bad news. Let’s end this article with a bit of good news!

FACT:

The issues above can be either eliminated entirely or drastically reduced by something as simple as switching to automated attendance software.

The amount of time faculty and staff will save using automated software alone is enough to save the school potentially thousands of dollars each year.

But why stop there? …

SoftTime Online has an attendance software program that is a perfect fit for the education industry. Here’s a small taste of what it offers:

Accept or deny leave requests directly from your email inbox

Flexible accrual calculations for employees of all types- seasonal, full-time, part-time, etc.

Reduce leave time inquiries by allowing employees to see their data online.

Instant access the day you sign up with us (and no professional training needed).

Use biometric thumb scans to drastically reduce roll-call times.

And other top-tier features

We’d love to talk to you personally and learn more about your educational institution and discuss how we can help.

Contact one of our customer support specialists today or click here to learn more about our no-risk, 100% FREE 30-day trial.