Bound scheduling software to streamline activities management at PCHS

Perkins County Schools Activities Director Shawn Cole is looking forward to spring break this year. Not because of the week of downtime for the school, but because of the launch date of the school’s new scheduling software called Bound.

“I have been maintaining two calendars in parallel (old system and Bound),” Cole told the Perkins County School Board during its meeting on Monday, Feb. 16. “Once Bound is live, I will only have to maintain one calendar, which will be a big improvement.”

Currently, the school is using a patchwork of systems, spreadsheets and emails for scheduling activities and pushing information to users, including Our School, Arbiter, Apptegy and Clover. With Bound, an Iowa‑based company headquartered in Ames, all of these will be included in one streamlined system, Cole said.

 “I don’t have to have nine different spreadsheets and email nine different things to people to get things scheduled and updated,” Cole said. “It will all be included in one system.”

Currently scheduled to be implemented by more than 230 Nebraska schools, including nearly all of Perkins County’s conference schools, Bound offers an all-encompassing online platform for scheduling, digital ticketing and event management, Cole said. This will include sports, school events, transportation and the potential to include student forms and other activities for the district, he said.

Cole did comment, however, that some of the conference schools have chosen to not implement the software, meaning Perkins County will still have to manually enter events for those opponents. But the majority are moving to Bound, significantly reducing duplicate data entry and confusion, he said.

The best part about the software, he said, is the district won’t have to pay a dime for it because of their agreement to use Bound’s credit card machines.

“We agreed to use their credit card machines, which charges the customer a fee per swipe, but charges us nothing,” he said.

Cole said Bound’s fees per swipe are roughly comparable to, or slightly less than, Clover’s previous 5% per transaction. Fees are typically passed on to the buyer, similar to standard online ticketing. The district may adjust ticket prices or fee handling in the future if desired, he said.

Along with the platform streamlining operations, reducing manual work, and enhancing public access through an app, it will also integrate with the school’s Hudl account for live streaming and stats tracking, he said.

What the Public and Staff Will Notice

When live, the public and staff at the school will notice the following things concerning the school’s use of Bound:

• All sports and activities schedules, including varsity, JV, junior high, reserves, school events, FFA, board meetings, first day of school, etc., will be built in Bound, and available through the website.

• When another school creates an event in Bound and adds Perkins County as a participating team, that event will automatically appear on Perkins County’s calendar—no re‑entry needed.

• On the school’s calendar, the public will be able to filter by activity, subscribe to calendars, see site times and time zones clearly.

• Because Bound is location‑aware, the calendar will show times in the site’s time zone, helping avoid confusion between Mountain and Central time.

• Users can opt to receive notifications when a followed team’s schedule changes. As soon as staff hit “save” in Bound, those changes are reflected and alerts can be sent.

• Small card readers at gates and concessions allow fans to pay by credit or debit card, however cash will still be accepted.

• Fans can also use the Bound app to buy tickets in advance. Tickets appear in the app, and at the gate, staff tap “Use ticket,” which prevents screenshots from being reused.

 • Activity passes will also move into Bound, allowing passes to be scanned and reset daily.

• Families will eventually be able to register students, complete online forms, and pay activity or camp fees through Bound.

• Student information—including required forms and eligibility—will be stored and tracked in the system.

•  Staff will be able to see at a glance whether a student is eligible, rather than maintaining separate lists.

• Staff will also be able to schedule student workers for activities, with the app pushing reminders to those who have signed up, among other things.

Bound will also assist the school in scheduling venues at the school, including assigning different rooms for different events, allowing youth coaches and outside groups to reserve spaces and pay fees, and allow drivers needed for events to sign up through the app. 

The software will provide a statewide database of officials to assist with scheduling and paying them for their service, Cole said.

Cole said Bound’s onboarding team will assist Perkins County by importing existing schedules and student data. However, local staff are learning to build and manage items themselves to ensure long‑term self‑sufficiency, he said.

Cole said that while the district will keep its current website, families will be encouraged to rely on Bound for activities information, ticketing, and alerts instead of the old app.

When it’s launched, the link to Bound will be on the school’s website, with additional information on how to download and use the app and its features, Cole said.

“There is definitely a learning curve, especially around time zones and new workflows, but in the long‑term benefits are worth it to make every day scheduling so much easier—for us and for the public,” Cole said.