Lee County School District Beattyville, KY

1. Lee County School DistrictBeattyville, KY Transportation- Bus Request for Trips DISTRICT MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Lee County School District is to foster trust, growth, and  accountability in partnership with students, staff, parents, and the community. 

2. “This is how we Roll”

3. Project Charter Problem Statement – Lee County Schools have identified areas of the transportation department that need refined to improve performance and efficiency. The first focus areas will include process and proceduresfor trips. Paperwork regarding trips has been increasingly inaccurate, incomplete, not submitted in a timely manner and procedures aren’t followed. Transportation personnel have noticed an increased number of bus requests that are inaccurate and takes additional time to amend and correct. Also, the cost for Board subsidized trips have few or no parameters (# of trips, cost and distance). Goals – • To define the trip procedures and implement a more efficient, accurate process. • To decrease in-complete forms as well as ensure proper approvals. • To decrease the paperwork process and transition to an electronic format. • To educate staff and outside agencies utilizing buses on the process and procedures. • To review and recommend more efficient methods of budgeting, tracking, billing, and collections.

4. Milestones

5. Cost of Poor Quality • Total cost for transportation for field trips • 2011-2012 Cost per mile for field trips - $3.09 • Miles driven for field trips 50,571 miles X $3.09 = $156,254 • Amount reimbursed for field trips – $40,739.71 • Total amount not reimbursed – $29,418.45 • Loss to Food Service - $3.00 per student X 30 students = $90.00 per trip • 2012-2013 Cost per mile for field trips – $3.09 • Miles driven for field trips 27,411 miles X $3.09 = $84,699 • Amount reimbursed for field trips – $25,455.43 • Total amount not reimbursed – $29,836.72 • Loss to Food Service - $3.00 per student X 30 students = $90.00 per trip

6. Cost of Poor Quality (Continued) • Requesting a bus on paper/time, cost & effort of staff involved – Old Way • Manual Steps • Requestor completes form and gets approvals- approximate time 1 day $100 • School secretary brings request to the Board- approximate time .50 $7.50 • Sherry – makes copies for Board, Bus Garage and Ray-approximate time .25 $4.25 • Ray-assigns and makes arrangements with the driver-approximate time 1 day $150 • Wendell-assigns a bus – makes sure bus is serviced and available-time 1 day $136 • Driver-completes a trip invoice when the trip is completed with mileage-1 hr. $9.45 • Sherry-creates and submits invoice to school secretary for payment-time .50 $8.50 • School secretary-receives invoice and creates payment sends to Board-time.50 $7.50 • Zina-posts payments and codes in Munis-time .50 $12.00 • Shana-deposits payments and files documentation-time .50 $8.50 • Sherry-last minute bus requests that need attention prior to Board mtg.-2 hrs. $34.00 • Total: $477.70 • Requesting a bus electronically through Travel Tracker • Electronic Steps • Requestor enters information in Travel Tracker and submits the requests and • an e-mail notification is sent to the appropriate staff for approval-time .25 $4.00 • School secretary – there is no paper copy to bring to the Board-manual step eliminated $0 • Sherry-notifications are sent to Wendell and Ray by e-mail-manual step eliminated $0 • Ray-assigns a driver and makes further arrangements as necessary-time .50 $75 • Wendell-assigns a bus (requestor is notified by e-mail) time-.25 $4.25 • Driver-turns in paper trip invoice with mileage-time 1 hr. $9.45 • Sherry-submits invoice electronically to schools secretary for payment • Most information is already populated only enter driver cost and mileage-time .25 $4.25 • School secretary submits payment info through Travel Tracker and send • a check to the Board-time .50 $7.50 • Zina posts reimbursement payments and coding in Munis-time .50 $12.00 • Shana deposits payments and files documentation- time .50 $8.50 • Total: $124.95

7. Factors not MeasuredBut Identified….. • Loss of revenue to food service (Due to food service not being utilized for day trips) • Loss of time due to incomplete paperwork • Cost to district due to late cancellation and trip scheduling times • Cost to district due to no policy on number of trips a program may take, destinations (no specific budget amount for transportation costs that the district reimburses). • Number of bus requests received late

8. Project Scope • Brainstormed issues

9. Project Scope (continued) • Current Trip Request

10. Project Scope (continued) • Developed Project Timeline • 6/26/14 – 6/27/14 • Refined project timeline: • 10/10/14

11. Implementation Process • Teacher • Coaches • Principals • SBDM Council • Board of Ed. • Food Service • District Nurse • Budget • Bus Request Form/trip release • Food/Meal Roster • Approved Request • Bus Driver • Health/ Special Need • Approved riders • Documentation • Plan • Communicate • Meals • Approved Form • Invoice/Payment • Destination Details • Bus Request Approval per procedures • Students • Parents • Requestors • Bus Drivers • Finance • Food Service • Nurse • Board of Ed. • Transportation • Administration • District leadership, technology • State/federal laws and regulations, policies Start End

12. Taking Trips

13. Define Voice of the Customer • Don’t have time to complete form • Doesn’t know the date of the trip • Doesn’t like completing a new form when changes occur • Doesn’t like the length or requirements of the form • Requests a particular driver Insert graph or other info about customer data collection

14. Data Reviewed and Analyzed • 07/01/14 – 10/10/14 • Reviewed the procedures and process for completing a bus request for field trips • Reviewed incoming bus requests for accuracy • 6 out of 10 bus requests lacked important/required information • Reviewed incoming bus requests for proper approvals • At least 10 bus requests a month were not submitted in a timely manner for Board approval • Reviewed timeline of invoicing and payment • Invoices were submitted twice on some occasions and payments were never received • Identified the need for a better process of submitting, completing, approving and paying for field trips

15. Measure – Key Performance Indicators • The system will allow us to track timelines to make sure bus requests are approved and submitted in a timely manner • Export data to show what invoices that are paid/unpaid at each school • Export data to show how many miles we transported for different departments (athletics, extra-curricular, etc.) and the transportation costs for each department • Export data than can be used for end-of-the-year state reporting • Export data to show mileage for each bus (this could be helpful in maintenance of the bus fleet) • Travel Tracker will track how many buses were requested in a year

16. Analyze - Process Analysis

17. Improve – Implementation Plan • Recently, October 13th, we implemented a new online system called “Travel Tracker” that will track bus requests throughout the entire process • Provided training for administrators, school clerks and transportation personnel on how to use the new system • Provided an efficient way of accessing the system through an on-line process with a link on our school website • The system will not allow you to submit a request without all required fields completed • Approval process is shown at the bottom of each request making sure all approval requirements have been met • After a trip is completed and mileage is entered, an invoice can be sent directly to the school clerk for payment • Invoices and payments are submitted in a timely manner and are tracked. Any unpaid invoices is tracked allowing the district to know what has not been paid by the school or agency

18. Improve - Implementation Plan Continued

19. Improve - Pilot Findings • The Travel Tracker program is a user friendly program and staff have adapted well to the new process and likes the efficiency of submitting requests rather than waiting for the paper copy to get to the several staff members for approval • A district wide calendar is available to all staff allowing them to see what trips are out each day of the month as before they had to make copies of the paper requests to keep track of trips • The electronic process can show you a cost estimate for a trip as before paper copy did not. This will allow schools to budget trips better. • All information is required prior to submitting requests compared to before when information was left off the paper copies. This saves time in the transportation department • The food service department is notified when a group is out during the lunch periods and needs sacked lunches. This will help food service revenue. • Invoices are submitted once a trip is taken and can be sent directly to the school clerk for payment eliminating the time it takes for the transportation clerk to create an invoice on paper • Graphs and charts can be exported to show data entered in to the system such as mileage, number of certain trips taken, outstanding invoices, etc. The system will also export a listing of trips for Board approval each month

20. Improve - Implementation Plan The Transportation Department will continue to monitor the new Travel Tracker system and make sure it is working to meet the needs of the Lee County Schools bus submission process. Ray Shuler, Transportation Director – will be in the system each day to monitor submission activity and approve requests Sherry Profitt, Transportation Administrative Asst. – will be in the system each day to monitor completed trips and submit invoices in a timely manner Sherry Profitt, Transportation Administrative Asst. – will work with staff for additional training if necessary and will send e-mails periodically and conduct surveys to make sure staff is understanding the process

21. Improve - Cost Benefit Analysis • Travel Tracker online subscription for 12 months - $2,227.20 • Old bus request process: $477.70 per trip • New bus request process: $124.95 per trip • Savings: $352.75 per trip: $158,737 total savings (Based on 2013-14 # of trips-approximately 450) • Loss of efficiency due to last minute paper use-trips • Cost of training – free (Company included online training and links with videos and online resources) travel not necessary • Cost of ongoing IT support – free with purchase • Cost of upgrade – free • Cost savings will occur when staff time is reduced because of the efficiency of the program, quickness of submissions and approvals and automated invoices • Identified a process and evaluated a vendor that could modify an online submission process to meet our transportation needs

22. Control • Make sure Travel Tracker is being used and implemented correctly • Monitor key measures • Review the process on a daily basis • Offer assistance and training resources as necessary • Survey the customer and fine tune process • Contact Travel Tracker as necessary for issues regarding the system or changes that we’d like to see made to enhance our bus submission process • Collecting feedback from staff (customers) to know if the program if working/benefiting the district

23. Key Findings Key Findings Key Concerns Main point Bus requests being submitted were not submitted in a timely manner for Board approval Information on bus requests were inaccurate or missing causing liability issues if an accident should occur and more time for staff to call and request that information Over a period of time, ongoing unpaid invoices could cause a shortfall in the transportation budget causing other areas of concern • Main point • Bus request process needed to be more efficient • Procedures needed to be made clear • School clerks needed a better way of tracking invoices and making payments after a trip • There is a need for trip estimates for budget purposes • It is necessary that all approvals are met by appropriate staff for liability purposes • The district needed an updated way of tracking unpaid invoices