Competing for Talent with Larger School Districts

In 2023, Christie heard about Frontline Flex Pay, powered by Wagestream, which districts could initially offer substitute teachers. In 2024, Frontline Flex Pay expanded its offering, allowing all employees, including hourly staff, substitutes, teachers, and administrators, to access a portion of their earned wages quickly, at no cost to the district or employees.

“Finding a way to stand out and attract substitutes to our district, instead of them going to larger districts, intrigued me,” Christie explains. She decided to adopt Frontline Flex Pay when she learned it could benefit all employees. “I said, ‘Now we’re going to get on board because this impacts my entire staff.’”

What drew Christie to Frontline Flex Pay was its focus on financial health and literacy, unlike high-interest payday loan companies. “This isn’t to put them in a worse situation. This is to help them to learn how to manage their money. I really like that aspect and promote it very highly to all the employees.”

With goals around recruitment and retention, Marion ISD’s superintendent was instantly on board as well.

Implementation and Rollout

As the school year end approached, Christie wanted to swiftly implement Frontline Flex Pay so they could promote it while hiring for the coming year. The setup was quick and easy: the payroll team simply uploaded a spreadsheet with employee information to Wagestream, requiring no involvement from the Technology department.

The next step was rolling out the program to employees. Wagestream provided all necessary promotional materials. “They provided all the sheets for you. They also send out emails at enrollment time, giving little peeks at what this does. They did the heavy lifting,” Christie says. The district’s benefits consultant, who meets with employees about insurance plans, also helped spread the word by distributing Wagestream flyers to everyone they met. “They had a stack of Wagestream flyers sitting right next to them and gave one to every single person that came. I think that helped get the word out.”

Christie is pleased with how Wagestream handled the few issues that arose. When employees didn’t understand they needed to register their debit cards, Christie highlighted the communication gaps. “Wagestream stepped up. I gave them feedback, and they’ve since changed their communications. I was very happy with their rapid response to improve that.” When she needed to make staffing changes in the system at the start of the new fiscal year, Wagestream took care of it for her. “Customer service has been great,” she adds.

Impact: Adoption of Frontline Flex Pay

Despite rolling out Frontline Flex Pay as the school year ended, many employees quickly embraced it. “I was very pleased with the response we had.” Once employees started using the system, Christie presented the usage statistics to the district’s admin team. “They were all shocked. I don’t think they realized the need was out there. It was a good thing for everybody all around.”

Christie was surprised by the variety of employees using it. In addition to hourly workers, administrators and teachers have also used it to advance pay. “I have been surprised at the number of teachers that have used it as well. It has been a good mix, actually.”

As the new school year begins, Christie believes Frontline Flex Pay will be especially beneficial for new teachers, whose first paycheck takes longer to arrive. “A lot of times, our first-year teachers need money sooner than they can get paid. That will be a benefit to help sustain them for that first month.”

Maintaining a Competitive Edge

In the fall, Christie plans a marketing push to promote Frontline Flex Pay to all staff. The district will send out emails, and the program will be highlighted in Marion ISD’s benefits book. She hopes that staff, including the 20 or so new teachers, will share her enthusiasm. “I’m enrolled myself, and we’re emphasizing that it’s there if you need it for an emergency. You don’t have to use it, but you have that tool so you don’t need to rely on your credit card.”

Christie also anticipates that Frontline Flex Pay will encourage more accurate timeclock usage, a trend Wagestream frequently observes in other organizations who use the system. “We have employees who struggle with the timeclock. I feel if they sign up for this and see their hours, if they haven’t clocked in and out appropriately, their hours aren’t going to show appropriately, so they’re not going to have access to that money. That’s one of the benefits I’m hoping to get out of it.”

Ultimately, Christie believes Frontline Flex Pay will help Marion ISD stand out from other districts in the area that are also recruiting new employees. “In my experience, people catch your excitement. This is one thing I’m excited about….This will definitely be one of the highlights this year to make sure they’re aware of it, because it does make us stand out.”