Schools

District 196 School Board Votes Yes to Online Payment System

Board chooses new route for district families paying for school-related items.

The  school board Monday unanimously approved to have a new system in place to facilitate online payments of all its fees beginning next school year.

The school board voted 6-0 in support of the new fee system, which the district has been working on since last January.

"It'll be a one-stop shop for fee payment and registration," said Jeff Solomon.

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While better customer service to district families is a main goal of the measure, it also aims to decrease the amount of cash and checks floating around at district schools,

As part of the proposal that the board approved, the district will absorb transaction fees as part of the new system, so there will be no increased charges or activity fees for district families. 

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What a great way to pay for field trips, year books and transportation. Instead of sending a check which your kid might lose, it can be paid online, District 196 school board president Jackie Magnuson said.

"This has got to be a blessing for parents … and it saves us a lot of hassle from having to take cash or check," Magnuson added.  

With the new system that will eliminates transaction fees for payees, the district estimates about $5 million made in online payments to start with, board member Rob Duchscher said at the Nov. 14 school board meeting.

In addition, the district will partner with TIES FeePay for the service; the district already contracts with the company so it won't face any extra monies for the service.


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