Schools

Bad checks draw new plan

School Board members may hire a check processor to save time as well as avoid embarrassing parents.

By JEFFERY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
Published November 24, 2007

LAND O'LAKES - It's a cringe-worthy moment in the schoolhouse, when a mom comes to the office to pay her kids' lunch fees and the bookkeeper won't take her check.

Her name is on the "no checks" list. Too many bounced before it. So mom digs in her purse for change, if she has it, or she walks away. And everyone knows.

It happens more often than you might think.

Each year, the Pasco school district takes in about 200,000 checks. Of those, about 3,000 get rejected by the bank.

Most are worth less than $20. They're hardly worth the hour or so it takes a district employee to deal with.

So the district administration has a plan to eliminate the work, as well as the uncomfortable front office transactions.

If the School Board approves next month, the district will hire a check processing firm that will deal with all bounced checks. The company, ePayments, will cover the amount of the checks to the district and then pursue payment from the banks.

People who bounce the checks, and not the district, will cover the cost with a $25 collection fee that's permitted by the state.

The company doesn't make nasty calls to parents or act like the repo man. Rather, food and nutrition director Rick Kurtz said, it sends three letters and does its business politely. It offers several alternative payment methods, including a MoneyGram at Wal-Martand PayPal.

And it relies on its knowledge of when money is most likely in the bank - such as paydays and federal check distribution days - to avoid having to make multiple attempts to get repayment.

Perhaps best of all, it eliminates the need for the "no checks" list.

The schools will accept checks from parents and let the company deal with those who repeatedly bounce checks.

"There no longer is a dialogue about who's a deadbeat," Kurtz said. "It just takes all those conversations out of thewater cooler."

Board member Frank Parker, an accountant, asked during a workshop whether the district ultimately would pay the price of ignoring repeatedbounced checks.

Kurtz answered that most folks who write rubber checks for lunch probably have bigger problems, such as mortgages, and eventually the collection agencies will push for prosecution. And then the company will get its due, he added.

Also, Kurtz added, the district will try to educate parents about their options to avoid falling into the bounced check trap.

Parker laughed.

"The problem is, the parents who don't write the bad checks read the newsletter and the ones who do, don't," he said

The main reason for making the change, Kurtz said, "is really managing our time better."

Board members nodded their heads in agreement. If they vote that way in December, the new system should be in place by January.

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com or 813 909-4614. For more education news, visit the Gradebook at blogs.tampabay.com/schools.

[Last modified November 23, 2007, 20:43:39]