Implementation of Credit Card Program

Presentation to the School Board

July 30, 2008

2

Cash Collection

The District currently collects monies for many goods and services such as:

Breakfast and lunch for students

After care (SACC) for students

Adult and community school fees

Fingerprinting for new employees

Lease of school facilities

School Activities such as pictures, yearbooks, fieldtrips, prom tickets, grad night, etc.

Currently, these payments can only be made with cash or a check.

3

Goals of a Credit Card Program

To ease the payment process for parents as well as school staff, the Audit Committeeand the School Board asked staff to explore the possibility of accepting payments via credit cards.

Goals of the program:

Lessen cash handling at schools.

Make the payment process easy for parents, students and employees.

Credit and Debit cards should be a payment option, but not required.

Online payment processing would be ideal so payments can be made 24/7 from any location with internet access.

Impact to school staff should be minimal.

4

Process

Met with all stakeholders to determine needs.

Internal accounts, School Food Service, SACC, Adult and Community Ed, Risk Management, School Police, Human Resources, Facilities Management, Legal, Purchasing, just to name a few.

Contacted School Districts throughout the country to determine who was accepting credit cards and how they were doing it.

Conducted many conference calls with vendors regarding services available.

5

Accounting Issues

The current school accounting software, Manatee, could not accommodate electronic payments. Details of each deposit would have to be manually entered by school staff or an interface would need to be developed.

Upon researching online payment services, staff discovered several products that provided online processing with an integrated accounting solution.

6

Events Up to Date

Jan-2008

Mar-2008 May-2008

-Went to Broward County schools to view their online payment solution and internal accounting software.- Hosted a 3 day vendor presentation to various departments to assist in the final selection process.

Feb-2008

Apr-2008

-Met individually with various district departments on revenue collection items and possible web solution.- Viewed over 12 product solutions from various vendors in the industry.

-Audit Committee set initiative for online payment solution.-Project team kick-off meeting-Bank of America presentation to District staff.-Contacted neighboring school districts regarding feedback on credit card program.

-A vendor was agreed upon internally with District staff.-Initial quote was submitted to purchasing from vendor.-Initial review of policy and procedures with legal.

* Monthly Updates provided to Audit Committee

Jun-2008-Preliminary negotiations with the vendor and purchasing.- Further discussion with legal regarding policy, contract and resolution.-Pilot schools selected by I/A and SFS.

7

Product Demonstration

(Parent’s View)

8

What Will Parents Like Best AboutThe Online Payment Solution?

Web site for Parents

9

Daniel Howard

Web site for Parents

10

How Parents Pay Online…

Web site for Parents

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Additional Features…

Web site for Parents

19

Notes from Teachers/Coaches can be included with Fees

20

What we anticipate the final product will deliver…

From Parents’ View:

Easy to use registration process

User friendly, intuitive screens

Make payment for multiple children at different schools

Bilingual – Spanish and English option

See payment history detail

Detailed transaction history, available by sort – e.g. department, date range, name etc.

View student’s balance on account

Access detailed food history purchased by student

Pay fees with credit/debit card through secure network

21

Accounting Software

22

Money Handed in by Coach Jones (sample)

23

What we anticipate the final product will deliver…

From School Bookkeepers’ View:

Replacement of Manatee (current student activity accounting software) with a web-based solution. The system will allow bookkeepers to access system from any computer with internet access.

Saves Time: Save hundreds of hours over a school year by reducing manual counting and calculations of cash and coin

Accuracy: Eliminates manual calculation, NSF tracker

Easy to Use: If you can type and tab, you can operate the program

From an Internal Auditor’s View:

Flexible Reporting: District-wide consolidated reports available

Saves Time: The transaction search feature allows the auditor to narrow their search to an individual item (i.e. field trips, yearbook sales, etc.)

This software was the preferred overall package.

24

Comments from School Bookkeepers

“The internal system is fantastic! It seems everything was thought of here. Money calculator, receipts, deposits online….everything I find is easy to do.”

“Kev Software is a refreshing update to a Manatee dinosaur. Everything seems to be only a click away.”

“Wonderful replacement for Manatee!” Ease of use. Detailed, detailed, detailed…”

“This will allow schools to dedicate more time in other areas.”

25

Future Timeline of Events(tentative)

26

Cost of the Program

The cost of the accounting software, installation, training, etc. for 173 schools and district employees is $110,247 which will be paid from the operating budget.

The cost of the credit card processing will be paid to Bank of America based on the contract issued for the State of Florida for merchant services. Most of those fees will be passed on to Visa. The annual estimate is $1,529,000.

The cost of the online service and parent center will be paid to KEV Group. The fee is estimated to be $972,000 annually, but will be capped at $412,000 for the first year.

These costs can be passed to parents via a convenience fee or paid by the District.

At this time, we are recommending that the District pay the fees. That will encourage use of the system. The more parents that use the system, the less cash will need to be counted, less checks to be dealt with (reducing NSF fees), and the less time spent auditing those processes.

The costs could be offset by a small increase in fees across the District.

27

Future Timeline of Events (Tentative)

Jul-2008 Sep-2008 Nov-2008-Begin District and SFS (8 schools) pilot for online payment.-Begin training “pilot” 8 school bookkeepers on school accounting software and online payment solution

-Roll out additional schools for SFS online payment solution (based on roll out from pilot)- Begin School Activities’ pilot for the online payment solution for 8 schools

Aug-2008 Oct-2008

-Begin District, I/A and SFS employees training on web solution.- Marketing tools distributed to pilot schools.-2nd reading of credit card policy by the School Board, submit for approval.

-Test environment of systems-Final Price Negotiations- Submit a resolution for pilot and contract for approval by School Board.-Make a presentation to SB.-1st reading of the CC policy by SB.-Internal Account bookkeepers’ meeting

-Roll out schools for SFS online payment solution (based on previous roll out)- Roll out schools for school activities’accounting software (based on roll out from pilot)

* Monthly Updates provided to Audit Committee

28

Pilot Schools

Eight pilot schools were chosen by looking for the schools with the strongest bookkeepers and strongest cafeteria managers. There are four elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools.

The purpose of the pilot is to test the system, test the fee structure, test everything.

The rollout of the program will be adjusted as needed to ensure a positive experience for the schools and the parents.

Manatee Elem

Hidden Oaks Elem

Wellington HighOsceola Creek MiddleGrassy Waters Elem

Jupiter HighIndependence MiddleCypress Trails Elem

High SchoolsMiddle SchoolsElementary Schools

29

Discussion

Questions/Comments

Contract Approval