EZ School Pay trial at Intermediate School

Parents of intermediate school students will soon be able to check their children’s lunch accounts and make payments online.

During a special meeting on Friday, held to approve bids for the addition to Northside Elementary School, school board members approved a pilot of the online payment program through EZ School Pay in February. If it is successful, it will be expanded to all schools in the district.

EZ School Pay allows parents to set up an online account where they can track their child’s meal account balance, according to Jason Carter, food services director. The company also gives parents the option to set up text alerts when their child’s account balance gets low and add money to the account online.

The online payment service is completely optional and parents will still be able to pay using the traditional method of sending money to their child’s school,

Carter said.

Parents can check account balances and receive text alerts are free, but for each payment that is made EZ School Pay charges a flat $1.25 transaction fee plus an additional fee based on a percentage of the transaction from a third party vendor that handles the financial transaction. Because the school is a nonprofit government organization, it cannot cover the cost of transaction, district treasurer Terry Raskiewicz explained during the December school board meeting.

Carter originally suggested charging parents a flat fee of $2.50 per transaction to cover cost, but school board member Roger Holroyd raised concerns in December that the fee was too high, especially if a parent were to use their credit card to add a small amount such as $10 to their child’s account.

On Friday, Carter presented three options for passing on the fee to parents including a flat fee of $1.50 plus 2 percent, a flat fee of $2.50 and a 5 percent fee. The flat fee of $2.50 would overcharge parents up to $0.98 on small transactions, but would not cover the entire cost of transactions over $55. The 5 percent fee would not cover the cost of transactions under $45, but would provide excess money on transactions over $50, overcharging parents up to nearly $3 on a $150 transaction.

Carter recommended charging a flat fee of $1.50 plus 2 percent. The fee would cover the cost of all transactions under $90, and the most it would overcharge parents is $0.08.

According to EZ School Pay’s data, the average transaction size is $50, Carter said. He estimated that the average transaction in Siloam Springs will probably be closer to $35 or $40. In addition, parents can pay for multiple children in one transaction, reducing the number of transaction fees. Parents also have the option to pay with an electronic check, with a much lower fee of $0.45, he said.

EZ School Pay is available at 12 of the 15 public school districts in Northwest Arkansas, Carter said. Most charge a transaction fee that ranges from $2 to $3, and one charges a 5 percent fee. Siloam Springs will be the first to offer a flat fee plus a percentage, but Carter said he feels it is the most fair method to parents.

“A flat fee plus 2 percent guarantees we’re not over or undercharging,” he said.

“This clearly protects the parent and the district in the most equitable way,” said board member Chuck Hyde.

Holroyd said he appreciated Carter’s recommendation.

“This is a lot easier to defend,” he said, suggesting the school district do as much as possible to educate parents that the electronic check is the lowest cost way to pay online.

The online payment option will be debuted at the intermediate school parent teacher conferences on Feb. 1.

In other business, the school board voted to approve SSI’s bid for the Northside Elementary School classroom addition.

The company, which is based in Fort Smith and has an office in Tontitown, submitted the low bid of $989,700 on Jan. 12. Other companies to bid on the project were Crossland Construction with a bid of $1,081,410 and Southern Building Services with a bid of $1,176,087.

Architect Mike Spaeth, of BILD Architects, said he has not personally worked with SSI, but reported the company has done several educational projects in Rogers and Fort Smith.

Spaeth said he went over the architectural drawings with SSI on Monday. He also went through the process of vetting the company’s subcontractors for the job.

Spaeth said the price, which came in at around $178 per square foot, was slightly lower than he expected. The company said they wanted the clients more than the job and were looking for an opportunity to show the district their work, he said.

The addition will be approximately 5,500 square feet and will be located where the current playground sits. It will include four 850- to 860-squarefoot classrooms, which will each have their own restrooms, cabinets and cubbies. The addition will be paid for by a $500,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission with the balance coming from school district funds.

Assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins reported the playground has already been relocated so that construction can begin. SSI hopes to get on sitet as soon as possible and will be working on a tight timeline to complete the project by July 31, Spaeth said.