Case Study: Streator Elementary School District #44 reclaims front-office time and improves financial controls with Skyward School Business Suite

Reimagining Employee Management from the School Front Office

Streator Elementary School District #44, a district of about 1,624 students, faced paper-based payroll, poor staff communication, and no purchase-approval process while working under a deficit reduction plan — challenges that once prompted consideration of hiring an additional part-time front office employee. To address these issues the district partnered with Skyward and deployed Skyward’s School Business Suite, including Employee Access, Payroll, and Purchasing modules.

Skyward helped automate pay-stub distribution and time-off tracking, introduced an approval workflow for purchases, and centralized employee data, which eliminated the proposed hire, cut paycheck-stuffing time by roughly four hours per pay period (about a 50% reduction), reduced employee inquiries, and improved data accuracy. Those changes helped move Streator 44 from the Financial Watch List to the Financial Review List, and the district plans to expand usage with Skyward’s Online Enrollment to save still more staff time.

Streator Elementary School District #44

Lisa Parker

Streator 44’s Superintendent