WASHINGTON — DC Public Schools is changing the payment program for school lunches. Families had been concerned that the change would impact their wallets.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, DCPS confirmed to WUSA 9 that families will not pay transaction fees under the new system.
The District is moving from MySchoolBucks to LINQ Connect starting Tuesday.
DCPS said the change will not impact students' ability to eat lunch when they head back to school after the holiday weekend.
Families said they were not notified the switch was coming until Friday afternoon.
"It probably could have been handled better," parent Amy Hall said. "And families could have been given more advanced notice about what was happening."
Hall was most concerned about potential fees.
The district's previous vendor charged almost the cost of a school lunch per transaction when paying through their system.
Hall tweeted out a screenshot of her payment plan back in January that showed a $2.75 fee on a $10 payment she was making.
She said DCPS waived those fees if families cut them a check directly, which is what Hall did instead.
Many other districts across the country use LINQ Connect. Some of their websites show fees that are up to 4% of each transaction, but the costs vary by area.
As of Tuesday morning, DCPS did not have those costs clearly delineated online.
"The biggest concern, of course, is what this means for families. And whether this change is going to increase their costs," Hall said. "None of that information was made public in this transition. And I think families deserve to know how much they might be responsible for out of pocket in addition to paying for their school lunch."
Parents like Hall said those seemingly little fees can add up.
A spokesperson for DCPS sent WUSA9 the following statement on Friday:
“With its new meal payment platform, DC Public Schools is excited to eliminate the $2.60 per transaction fee our families were paying under the previous system. All MySchoolBucks credits were automatically transferred over to the new system today, so families can be assured there will be no disruption to students' meal service.
To alleviate any pressure to sign up for the new system over the long holiday weekend, families will be notified of their balance whenever it’s time to reload and reminded to create an account and add funds. The district's Food and Nutrition team is available to support via email at food.dcps@k12.dc.gov or by phone at (202) 299-2159.”
On Tuesday, DCPS confirmed to WUSA9 that parents will not pay fees when the school system switches over to the new system, and parents will get a notification when it's time to reload those funds.
Hall said she checked her student's balance Tuesday and did not see any fees added when she paid the balance.