Galena Park ISD ​​Streamlines Employment and Income Verification with The Work Number^®

​​​​​Like many Texas districts, Galena Park Independent School District operates in a challenging financial landscape, which often results in difficult staffing decisions. Rachel Hinshaw, Director for Information Systems, explains, “A lot of districts have had to make very tough decisions about staffing and budgets.” Galena Park’s Human Resources and payroll teams feel these pressures acutely.

One way this appears is in managing employment and income verifications for employees, which used to be a manual, time-intensive process that grew increasingly impractical, especially for a small team being asked to do more with less. To ​help ​address these challenges, Galena Park ISD turned to The Work Number®, an automated solution from Equifax® designed to streamline employment and income verifications through an integration with Frontline ERP, which Galena Park also uses.

Employment & Income Verification Challenges

Manual and Time-Intensive Process

Prior to adopting The Work Number®, Galena Park’s verification process required HR and payroll staff to handle each verification request manually, following specific templates from each verifying organization.​​ This often took 15 minutes or more per request — longer if the HR or payroll staff member was interrupted, which happened frequently​.​

“It wasn’t originally clear to me how much total time was going into those verifications,” says Rachel. Resource limitations further complicated the workload, as the payroll assistant handling verifications moved to another department. This redistribution of duties highlighted the pressing need for a more efficient verification process. “We just knew that that duty was going to have to shuffle to someone who probably didn’t have the time.”

Limited Resources

With school funding concerns prompting staffing cuts and changes, the workload on the remaining staff only grew. Rachel explains, “When The Work Number® partnership came up with Frontline, the timing was great for us, because in order to make up for shortfalls in state funding, a lot of positions were being shuffled.”

The Solution: The Work Number®

Galena Park ISD selected The Work Number® as a solution to ​help ​streamline employment and income verifications. The district’s Executive Director for Business Services saw the potential benefits immediately, especially with reduced resources in the HR and payroll departments. She felt The Work Number® could “take a lift off of both of those departments,” making it a practical choice for the district.

By automating verifications, The Work Number® enables vetted verifiers to access ​ ​employment data 24/7 for ​a ​specific permissible purpose. This solution helps reduce workload for the district, allowing staff to focus on ​more ​strategic work rather than repetitive tasks. The commitment by Equifax® to security and the fact that it is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provided the assurance Galena Park needed in handling sensitive employee data.

Implementation Process

Preparation and Onboarding

Galena Park ISD’s preparation for The Work Number® implementation involved data verification and testing to ​help ​ensure accuracy. They planned to go live during the summer, a period with fewer verification requests. Despite some interruptions due to Hurricane Beryl and the need to ensure the most recent data was being passed from Frontline ERP to The Work Number®, the district worked closely with Equifax® and Frontline to update their data in time for a successful launch.

Galena Park went live with The Work Number® in late July, and the district was prepared with resources and support to ensure a smooth transition.

Support and Resources

Equifax® provided extensive support throughout the process, providing Galena Park ISD with ready-to-use templates, bilingual support options, and a dedicated support line. They also supplied wording for web content and form responses to redirect verification requests to The Work Number®. For example, callers to the payroll department now hear a prompt in the menu system, enabling them to press ‘6’ and be automatically routed directly to ​support for ​The Work Number®.

Rachel recalls the convenience of this support: “To have all those resources just handed to us, where we have all of the wording and language there, was really great.” Additionally, the district contacted local banks and other verifying organizations, informing them to use The Work Number® for future verifications. This proactive communication ​helps ​ensure​ a ​more ​seamless transition for both district staff and external verifiers.

Results and Impact

Time Savings and Efficiency

The adoption of The Work Number® has led to significant time savings for Galena Park ISD, freeing up HR and payroll staff to focus on core responsibilities. ​​The district’s payroll team, reduced by one person, managed to absorb the duties that once took up a large portion of each morning. Rachel notes, “They can focus on their actual jobs: getting our employees paid on time.”

The district’s use of the employer portal revealed impressive metrics, ​​with over 140 verification requests answered per month. Rachel describes her reaction to the portal data: ​​“What was eye-opening was seeing how many verifications were coming in and being completed…. That is quite a few hours saved on our side.”