Just a quick word about yesterday's post....Yes, I am thankful that G-man wasn't hurt in his near accident. But the point of the post was that on the same day, 2 things happened, and they cancelled each other out. And the tire....G-man is soooo hard on his things. Cars, clothes, just about anything. We have made 2 payments on the car, and we already have to put money into it. Any long time reader knows that we don't do well with cars, and while we have the money for the tire....it will mean we won't have that money towards the tires that my car will probably need by the end of the year.
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In elementary school...the kids had to bring lunch money for the week on Monday and got tickets for their purchases. They discouraged the kids to use actual real money on a daily basis, as it slowed the whole system down. They would decide on Sunday night what days they were buying, and I would write them a check for the amount. They didn't allow purchases beyond that one week, so this was done every week.....
This year, the district went to an on-line system for payment of school lunch district-wide. Previously, this was only available at the middle schools and high school. Parents can determine if kids can buy meals only, or meals and snacks. The on-line system allows users to see what your child has purchased (within reason....it is labeled "snack/chips" or "meal"), monitor the balance, and add money to the account. Students have a pin number, so again, no money is changing hands.
I actually tried to register in September, but didn't have my kids ID
number (different from their pin). And because sometimes I get
lazy....I didn't call to get it. I would just send the kids in with a
check to cover the month, along with the optional form to help insure proper crediting.
The school district sent out a voicemail about 2 weeks ago encouraging parents to use the online system. So we called and got their ID and I registered. I found out that Sassy has been buying a snack just about every day. She and I discussed this, and I told her 2-3 snacks per week, or her snack privileges will be taken away. Additionally, we told her that if she runs out of money in her account for the month....oh well.
Sassy's account is depleted (must be the cookies!), as I didn't make a Jan 1 payment (between snow days, holidays....I forgot!). I figured I would just put money in her account, and top off Bossy's account.
And then I noticed....the fee. I was being charged $3.80 to add money to the accounts. I also noticed that it appears to be a 4.75% fee, that is charged EACH time you deposit money. Even if I did a one time deposit for the YEAR (which I am not....), it would be almost $50 for the convenience of doing it on-line.
No thanks. I will keep writing my antiquated checks. I will monitor the kids' accounts, but I am not paying a fee.
Wow! That's ridiculous. I would be interested to know if the school advised parents of that fee. Good grief. No wonder they're encouraging you to use the online system!
ReplyDeleteI posted before I finished my thought ... Are you sure they aren't charging you a check processing fee? I would think that would be harder for you to determine, but I sure wouldn't put it past them.
DeleteI looked at that. No fee. It shows the deposit in the amount that the check is for, and no other fees.
DeleteAnd no...nowhere in the documentation does it talk about the fee. On the website, it does say that some school elect to pay the fee themselves, but some schools pass it on to the families.
You should tell them that's why you'll keep writing checks. A set fee is one thing, but 4.5% to essentially do them a favor? No way! That's why I won't pay my rent online.
DeleteWe have the same type of online lunch system here. You can use a credit/debit card to add money into their account online but you get hit with a fee. I just send cash in an envelope once a month for the kids to hand in that gets credited to their account. Crazy to get hit with that extra charge when you don't need to.
ReplyDeleteI've had talks with them about their snack buying. I have one who likes to buy a bottle of Snapple for $1.25. I'll fill a thermos from home with iced tea for her to bring if she has a problem with the school milk that comes with the lunch.
I do it once a month as well.
DeleteSassy said she was usually getting chips or a cookie. MAYBE a drink. Seems to do it almost every day...so it doesn't matter if she brought her lunch or bought. Like I said...I have now set a limit to 2-3x a week, which I think is PLENTY.
I choked on my coffee when I read the fee! My goodness. I always made my kids take their lunch, and not that I homeschool, it is not a problem at all, but WOW! That is a hefty fee.
ReplyDeleteWe do a combo of buying and brown bag. Depends on the week how the ratio falls. Last week Sassy didn't like lunch, so she brought all week. This week she bought 3 times.
DeleteBut yeah....not happy about the fee.
Yikes! That's a lot of money for a fee. I understand that their system may have some admin fee but the school should have negotiated it or paid it due to them having less staff because of the system. 2-3 snacks a week is more than reasonable.
ReplyDeleteSame system here, same fee policy. We simply bring the checks to the school and walk them to the cafeteria. Moreover, in our system, while you can transfer money ftom one child to another, once in, the money never leaves the system. So, say I deposited $45.00 between our 3 in school, they didn't use it, and we moved, or they graduate, the money is absorbed n the system. You don't get a refund. On the upside, in elementary school, at least, our district is very lenient with negative balance, should you rely on the school lunch and simply forget to pay. Kids will still get a lunch. (I think that has more to do with the kindness of the lunch workers, though...)
ReplyDeleteAs we dislike the school lunch system on many levels, though, we use it rarely. Homemade lunches are cheaper, healthier, and tastier, and I like the thought of my kids taking a bit of home with them.
Wow that is quite a fee to pay for using their system. Our school is talking about going to an online system to pay all of the costs...right now we pay tuition online, but they want to do lunch charges, milk charges, sports fees, etc. online. I am hoping that if it is from our checking account we won't get hit with any fees like that, but I am not hopeful. Seems like everyone is charging extra fees now.
ReplyDeleteLike Meg B., we have a system in place here(My School Bucks)and if you don't use all the money you put into accounts, you lose it each year. We also have that fee to fund their accounts electronically. I attempted to fund one of the kids' accounts that first time and saw that fee and yelled "Highway Robbery!" and since have sent a check in when needed.
ReplyDeleteIt's the food service outsourcing the account recordkeeping so of course their is a fee to cover their cost but still.....so an unnecessary expense on us parents.
At the high school level I just told my kids how much they got each month and it was up to them how/when they spent it. I never gave them enough to just gorge out on meal/sugary drinks/snacks so they had to balance when/what they packed from home and what they spent on and if they ran out of $ in the account, it was up to them to figure it out. It was a great learning lesson for them as teens. I can see where you'd want to monitor it more with younger ones tho.
We are working towards the balance end of it. Right now they pick what days they are buying, and we haven't limited them. It seems that when you look at the month as a whole, it is about 50/50. Snacks are new. And Sassy has a very poor money sense. So this is still a work in progress.
DeleteRegarding the fee - the school is going to have to pay a bank fee for accepting that credit/debit card. Those fees would eat into their already low funds. They are probably not making a profit on the lunches already, just charging enough to cover their own expenses. Passing on those fees is likely the only way that could have been able to offer that service at all.
ReplyDeleteEven so....they advertise it as a free service. It is free to join. It is free to monitor your child. But it is not free to fund electronically.
DeleteI rent and to pay my rent online it is a $35 fee so they get a paper check every month
ReplyDeleteOK, now that takes the cake!!! I wouldn't pay it either.
DeleteI went thru that same thing with the online lunch and fees when my kids were young. I stopped using it too, especially after they kept charging my son for things he wasn't buying....they had some lame excuse that the lady just pushes a button for a full lunch and wasn't paying attention. He was taking a sack lunch and buying milk only....and they were charging him for a full lunch. I was so mad!
ReplyDeleteWow, that would really Pi$$ me off, but as most kids get free lunch and snacks this is one more way to get the Feds to cough up money. I would not pay it either. What a rip off.
ReplyDeleteThere's a fee to deposit money!?
ReplyDeleteThat is just downright ridiculous.
When mine were in high school they started this at there schools. They wanted a 4% fee so I would just send in a check also. They knew what they had to spend and if they ran out of money then they ran out. But most of the time they would just buy drinks and a snack once in awhile.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. That is what they call highway robbery. On the kids?! Seriously?! That's awful. I would send checks too... heck, if it'd tick them off more, I'd go there and pay with spare change. That's outrageous.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Canada, so have no idea about this stuff... but could you just not send them with meals & snacks and save money?
ReplyDeleteIn theory, yes. But I would rather them eat their lunch than not eat. Especially with Bossy and his weight issues. I would rather spend the money and he eats his lunch, than send lunch and the majority comes home (even though he likes everything that was packed).
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