Elk River schools hopes time clocks will cut costs
by The Associated Press

ELK RIVER -- The Elk River school district hopes to save money by having non-teaching employees punch the clock electronically.

Starting this fall, cooks, janitors and teacher's aides will have to show their security badges to an electronic reader, which will log them in for the work day.

The district wants to save money and make sure employees are getting paid exactly for the hours they work.

Teachers aren't part of the system because they're not paid hourly.

District officials hope to save close to $100,000 a year by cutting out payroll errors and controlling overtime costs. The district will have to pay $87,000 in startup costs for the computerized program, and $10,000 a year for the software licensing fee.

The plan affects 662 district employees.