WINNEMUCCA - Humboldt County School District is launching a pilot online payment system through PowerSchool called eFunds.
With the new system, parents will be able to go online and make payments with a debit or credit card for athletics, class fees and other miscellaneous fees. The system hasn't been rolled out but Superintendent Dr. Dave Jensen said district administrators are testing it out to get a better understanding of the program before full implementation later this year.
"We are piloting it right now to make sure we understand it," Jensen said. "We hope to go full-blown for fall registration."
The initial implementation will be just for Lowry High School and Winnemucca Junior High School but Jensen said further down the road he plans to use it for all schools.
"After we work out the kinks, we hope to go districtwide," he said.
The main reasoning behind the transition to online payment is streamlining. Jensen said the goal is to reduce the cash flow that runs through the district and make the process run more efficiently. Time is the main concern, according to Jensen, because handling large amounts of cash in the district detracts from other things staff could be doing.
"We are trying to streamline it for everybody," he said. "It makes me happy to reduce the cash flow."
The streamlining process isn't just geared toward staff; the online payment system will save parents a lot of time as well. They won't have to wait in lines to make payments anymore and will have more options for when they want to pay and for what. It will be much easier for parents, Jensen said.
Because the district already operates PowerSchool, eFunds will run at no additional cost (as it is already included in the PowerSchool program).
"It's a component of PowerSchool, so it doesn't cost the district anything," Jensen said.
Some minor costs might come up down the road, but those will be minimal, according to Jensen. Mainly those costs would be associated with point of sale systems. The systems would allow students and parents to pay for sporting event tickets at the gate with debit and credit cards through a device that can attach to an iPad or iPhone.
Jensen said those devices typically run about $75 apiece.
"We have seen those growing in popularity," he said.[[In-content Ad]]
