A PIECE OF THE PIE
Online service that lets parents pay for school activities and fundraisers has an extra hidden cost,
No more digging for toonies on your way out the door to pay for your child’s hot lunch or the upcoming class trip.
Parents across the GTA signing up their kids for pizza lunches, milk programs or yearbooks are making the purchases through an online service that promises to make the payment process “safe, fast and convenient.”
But the convenience comes with a cost. And it’s one that some school boards are choosing to download onto parents through a hidden administrative fee — whether they’re making the payments online or not.
Many GTA school boards have opted for School Cash Online, a software platform created by the KEV Group, an international company that “spe- cializes in the management and security of school funds.”
The service allows parents to pay for all the extra costs of school, such as field trips. It’s also the payment method of choice for recurring fundraisers like pizza lunches.
Twenty schools in Peel Region District School Board and 30 in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) are piloting the service this year. Several schools within the York Region and Halton Catholic school boards used the service last year and it’s being rolled out to the rest of their schools this year.
“Parents have asked for an online solution for a number of years,” said TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird. “And from an administrative side, it’s now less time spent on handling cash in school.”
Some parents who used the service last year say there has been little transparency when it comes to fees. In some boards, parents pay an administrative fee of up to 3 per cent on each transaction — even when they pay directly by cash or cheque.
York Region parent Yevgenia Casale said she was surprised last year when she discovered the additional cost. “It came as a shock to all of us that all the money that goes through the school is susceptible to the 3-percent processing fee,” she said.
In an email sent to principals last year obtained by the Star, York Region superintendent Peter Tse clarified the policy.
“The 3 per cent applies to all items collected from students/parents (i.e. Field trips, hot lunch, team uniforms, yearbook, graduation) regardless of method of payment (online, cash or cheque),” Tse said. “All items should be posted online and parents have the option to pay using the online system or by cash or cheque.”
Some parents the Star talked to within the York board say they have been told this year that the online service is the only way they are al- lowed to make payments. A spokeswoman with the York board acknowledged there is a “costrecovery fee associated with” School Cash Online and noted there is a disclaimer on the website.
The disclaimer parents see at checkout states: “Some prices may include a cost recovery fee for the use of this service.” It does not say how much the charge is. Casale said parents sending in cash or cheques are never informed about the fees.
School Cash Online was one of two companies selected through a competitive bidding process launched by the Educational Computing Network of Ontario (ECNO) on behalf of its member boards in 2012.
Sandra Quehl, executive director of ECNO, a not-for-profit technology co-operative that provides IT solutions to school boards, said the cost of the service varies with the number of students enrolled at each board.
Joshua Shuval, director of opera- tions and risk management with the KEV Group, said the cost of the product is confidential. Shuval said it is up to each board as to how they want to pay for the service.
“In Ontario, KEV charges a flat annual fee calculated based on School Generated Fund volumes. In no case does KEV charge any transactional fee to parents. However, our software does allow the school board, at its discretion, to charge and collect fees to offset its costs,” he said.
The Peel District School Board, which is piloting the service, said it is paying $20,000 a year for the software. The cost is based on an agreement set up by ECNO “which is standard for all school boards who are part of the contract,” said board communications officer Kayla Tishcoff.
Peel said the fees are broken into two parts: a 2-per-cent transactional fee that is set and charged by credit card providers and a fee of less than 1 per cent that covers “the administrative cost of School Cash Online.”