1. Case Studies
2. Francis Howell School District

Certifying 100+ Staff Quickly
to Maintain Funding

About Vacation Station: Francis Howell School District

Vacation Station is an essential service provided by the Francis Howell School District. It operates before and after-school programs, non-school day services, and summer camps for children serving the district's 10 elementary schools, two preschools, and, in the summer, one middle school. The organization also works with the Department of Social Services to help families in need and provides one-on-one staffing for children with special needs.

Vacation Station is self-funded, but adheres to the school district's bylaws. The program is tuition-based with a sliding scale to ensure affordability for all families. Their mission is to be the bridge between school and home by providing safe, quality out-of-school care for children.

Staying Afloat Amid Certification Chaos

Vacation Station faced a challenge when they needed to get their entire team recertified in CPR, First Aid & AED for Children & Infants following a district-wide CPR catastrophe. The state-approved CPR trainer they had previously worked with resigned unexpectedly, which led to the state invalidating all of the trainer’s previous certifications. As a result, Vacation Station needed to recertify everyone on staff urgently in order to maintain grants and subsidies.

The cost of certification was high for the more than 100 staff members. Also, the state had to approve the provider. With high turnover and price sensitivity, the Vacation Station team needed to find a flexible, cost-efficient, and customized solution that could get them started on CPR certification as soon as possible.

“We believe in the program and it’s made our jobs a lot easier.”

100+ Staff Members Certified Widely Varying Staff Schedules Reduced Individual Certfification Costs by 60% High Staff Turnover Due to Volunteers & Students on Staff Meets State Board Compliance Requirements Grants & Funding Require CPR Certification

Prioritizing Safety, Minimizing Costs

After looking at the state’s approved provider list, Vacation Station considered several options, including American Red Cross, Quick Care, and the American Heart Association. However, the organization found them too expensive, inflexible, or less convenient.

Ultimately, they chose ProTrainings’ blended program, another state-approved option, which offered CPR certification at a price that was within budget.

ProTrainings trained a number of Vacation Station’s staff to serve as Skills Evaluators to the rest of the team to ensure all staff could get certified quickly and with several options for scheduling their hands-on skills evaluations. ProTrainings also provided a customized program that was designed to be convenient and flexible, allowing staff to learn at their own pace, rewind and rewatch lessons as needed, and absorb more of the training materials for maximum proficiency.

According to Sarah Pipes, Program Coordinator of Vacation Station, the organization found great value in the administrative dashboard, which allowed them to track the certification status of all staff members and easily check to make sure they would meet their subsidy and grant requirements.

Maximizing Student Safety & Employee Satisfaction

Vacation Station found ProTrainings’ program to be “a very positive experience” that made their jobs much easier at a time when stress was high. “The feedback from staff was very positive,” said Pipes, citing the thoroughness of the program. “Many of our staff said they learned more than they had in previous CPR programs and even learned they were doing some techniques wrong.”

On the whole, the staff found the ability to learn at their own pace and the convenience of having on-staff skills evaluators a major benefit to the organization, as they now have the flexibility and are “not at the mercy of an outside instructor's schedule.”

Not only were they able to certify all of their staff members on a tight timeline, but also they were able to keep costs lower compared to other CPR training providers. Moreover, they have found that the blended program helps deal with the high turnover in their organization while also providing a team-building experience.

With a positive experience for staff and measurable results, Vacation Station was able to maintain grants and subsidies, and to provide safe, quality out-of-school care for children and families.