Meet the Client
Lawndale Elementary School District serves the southern region of Los Angeles County. Nearly 5,000 students move through their Preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, and Kindergarten programs. More than 240 teachers and administrators keep operations running.
Twenty years ago, they faced a familiar problem. Paper forms multiplied across departments. Field trip approvals bounced back and forth among teachers, parents, and administrators. New hire paperwork created bottlenecks. Mileage reimbursements required manual calculations. The district needed a better way.
About our Client
CLIENT NAME:
POPULATION:
est. 5,000 students
SOLUTIONS:
Daily Detour: Paper Consumed Time and Created Errors
Before automation, field trips required extensive coordination. Teachers filled out paper forms. Office staff manually compiled student lists from the Student Information System. Parents received paper permission slips that often went missing.
The cafeteria manager needed separate notification about lunch counts. Emergency contact information lived in multiple places. Teachers spent hours tracking down unsigned permission slips.
“For a process that usually involves a lot of back and forth between teachers, parents, and school administrators, Laserfiche Forms and Workflow makes the whole process easy by automating and simplifying every step in the process.”
New employee onboarding created similar friction. Paper packets stretched across dozens of pages. New hires entered the same information repeatedly on different forms. HR staff manually filed documentation. Tax forms required separate processing.
Mileage reimbursements demanded manual route planning and calculations. Staff spent time measuring distances instead of focusing on their core responsibilities.
The Solution: A Self-Sufficient Digital Ecosystem
Lawndale built expertise internally. Staff can now create and maintain forms without external support for most needs. They’ve developed hundreds of automated processes across departments.
Their approach offers valuable lessons:
Building Sustainable Solutions:
- End users participate in development from the start
- Forms reflect actual workflow needs, not theoretical ideals
- Staff capacity grows through hands-on training
- Champions emerge who drive adoption in their departments
Design Principles That Reduce Maintenance:
- Forms minimize opportunities for user error
- Regular upgrades keep pace with changing needs
- End-user review ensures forms remain practical
- Complexity gets simplified wherever possible
- Management receives training to support their teams
- Incognito browsers prevent caching issues during editing
The district created accessible entry points for their digital ecosystem. Staff can launch forms from within the Laserfiche application or through links on internal sites. The flexibility supports different work styles and preferences.
Forms remain consistent while serving diverse needs across the organization. From classroom teachers to cafeteria managers to HR specialists, everyone benefits from reduced manual work.
See it in Action
Get more good days done with Laserfiche’s complete toolset for securing documents, automating repetitive tasks, and meeting compliance requirements.
Field Trip Automation That Thinks Ahead
The Field Trip Request Form handles complexity without overwhelming users. Teachers select students from an automated lookup. The system pulls data directly from the Student Information System.
When teachers mark “Lunch Provided,” Workflow automatically sends the student count to the Cafeteria Manager. Parents receive email notifications with trip details. They can provide emergency contacts, note lunch requirements, or decline participation through a simple interface.
Before departure, teachers receive two critical lists. One shows which students haven’t submitted permission slips. Another provides emergency contacts for attending students. The system handles the logistics so teachers can focus on planning educational experiences.
Onboarding That Eliminates Redundancy
The new Employee Onboarding Form replaced paper packets with a guided digital experience. New hires enter information once. The system populates multiple forms automatically.
Built-in guidance helps users complete each section correctly. Helpful prompts appear at decision points. Documents upload directly to the Laserfiche Repository.
The workflow monitors folder activity. When HR marks an application as officially hired, the system moves applications and generated tax forms to their designated repository locations. No manual filing required.
Mileage Tracking That Does the Math
The Mileage Reimbursement Form integrates with Google Maps. Staff enter start and end locations. The system calculates distances and populates mileage fields automatically. Reimbursements process faster with accurate calculations.
