Alleviating the Burden of Field Trip Management: Client Testimony

testimonial, field trip management, travel tracker, app-garden, the app-garden
The Travel Tracker was developed to alleviate the  burden of Field Trip Management for school districts. From simplified trip request  submissions to the real-time accessibility for managing trip logistics, the Travel Tracker software creates a feasible process for trip management in districts. Gary Hough, Associate Superintendent of Fayette County Schools, provided us with in-depth insight into what the Travel Tracker does to ease the burden of school trip management in the Fayette County district.

       
 “Not only would [The Travel Tracker] help us to determine where our buses went, but it would tie greatly into the finances end of our business,” Gary Hough says.

Hough highlights that the Travel Tracker is not only meant to administer planning the obvious facets of creating a field trip but encompasses aspects such as where the funds derive from as well as estimates costs and notifies when the trip is paid for. Management of school trips goes much deeper than finding a location and a bus driver. In order to properly organize travel there are multiple levels of involvement from various individuals. A simple request from a coach, teacher, etc. often moves through a multi-level approval process. Approval processes are customized by each school district. After approval, the coordination of trip necessities begins. Bus scheduling is then decided, cafeteria staff are notified of the number of students who will be away from campus to eliminate food waste, and school nurses are notified if students with health concerns are travelling. Bookkeepers are informed of costing information and the proper party is provided with an invoice. When the trip is completed, a report is developed that allows districts to see how much is being spent on trips and which schools may be taking more trips than others.  Fayette County Schools are also using the Travel Tracker to track pre-approval for staff travel, including the budget codes that we be utilized for the cost of travel.

           “Everybody is able to follow [the Travel Tracker] and know what is going on”

By providing a system that allows administrators to see the process from the time the request is submitted to the time it is paid for, all parties are kept in the loop. Administrators are able to see where employees and students are travelling and codes are assigned to trips so that funding sources can be determined. By allowing high-level accessibility, confusion of details from planning to funding can virtually be eliminated as the Travel Tracker does for the Fayette County District. To learn more about how the Travel Tracker eases burdens in the Fayette County Schools, view Gary Hough’s testimonial.