School systems, like many government organizations, are slow to make use of new technologies, though we have seen several counter-examples of this. Many schools still use physical forms for things such as permission slips, which can be a headache for everyone involved. A startup called Script hopes to alleviate those issues with its Script app, which allows parents to digitally sign permission slips and pay fees from the convenience of their smart devices.
The Florida-based company was founded by Aaron White and Patrick Cahill, who serve as CEO and CTO respectively. Cahill has spent several years working as a software engineer in the fields of healthcare and banking. White’s background working as an IT administrator for a charter school and a technician for the Pinellas County school system provided the genesis for Script. He said he often found teachers and administrators to be frustrated by the sheer amount of paperwork involved in their jobs. He once saw a teacher break down in frustrated tears while dealing with the paperwork required to set up an activity for her classroom.
Ultimately, the company’s goal is to allow educators to spend more time teaching and less time dealing with tedious paperwork.
“Our heart is to empower teachers and educators to teach more and manage less,” White told Tech Crunch.
School employees aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit from reducing the amount of paperwork involved in field trips and other classroom activities. In the hassle of daily life, it’s easy to lose track of permission slips or simply forget to sign them until the last minute. Paying for field trips can also be a problem, as parents will often have to send the money by way of their children. This probably isn’t a problem for older children, but you can imagine it can be worrisome to trust elementary-age students with that responsibility.
The Script app aims to solve all of these problems by allowing parents to digitally sign permission slips and pay via the app. Script’s apps also make it easier for school officials to manage and create events.
The app allows teachers to create events and submit them to administrators for review. Once the event is approved, the administrators send a notification to the appropriate parents, who can then sign their children up and pay for the event via their smartphones.
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