West Orange Op-Ed: Parent Blasts ‘Pay to Pay School Lunch Scheme'

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The following letter to the editor comes courtesy of West Orange resident Brent Scott. Send local news tips, op-eds and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page here.

"I am a parent of two West Orange public school children. The West Orange school district uses or contracts with the online service 'My Payments Plus' to facilitate school lunch payments. On the My Payments Plus website parents sign in, enter an account number and pay their child’s lunch bill. But, there’s a catch. The website charges parents a fee of 4.75%. This is not a late fee, just a fee. By way of example, if a parent were to put $200 on a child’s lunch account, the pay to pay fee is an additional $9.50. And, don’t think you can outsmart the fee by choosing to pay a smaller amount. The reality is, if you put $50 on your child’s lunch account four times over the course of a year you are paying the additional 4.75% -per payment which amounts to $9.50.

"In West Orange the cost of a 'hot school lunch' is $3.10 per day. The additional pay to pay fee of 4.75% on our example of $200 is equivalent to the cost for three hot lunches with a few pennies left over. Note: the cost of a year's worth of hot lunches is considerably more than our example of $200. The only way to avoid this abusive fee is to go to the school at breakfast or lunch time and pay in person.

"The West Orange pay to pay lunch scheme is particularly troubling at this time when the National PTA is advocating for an act of Congress to end the centuries long shaming of children who receive free lunch.
Offering parents the convenience of paying for their child’s lunch online should not come with exorbitant fees or any fees at all. There is no excuse for this pay to pay scheme. Parents as consumers do not have to pay a fee in order to make a purchase (online or offline) at Amazon or brick and mortar stores such as Rite Aid or Whole Foods. West Orange parents of public school children should not be forced into an abusive fee scheme for the convenience of making a payment online. Paying online is as much a convenience for the retailer/service as it is for parents.

"This pay to pay fee matter should be reviewed by the district’s administration and the elected members of the West Orange Board of Education."

Brent Scott is vice president of communication at Redwood Elementary School in West Orange. The above represents the personal opinion of the author, Brent Scott, as a parent and is not meant as a position of the Redwood Elementary PTA, the NJPTA or the National PTA.

Photo: Flickr / Mike Licht