Though the main focus of technology in our school district is to improve instruction and student achievement, sometimes we are able to use it just to make life a little more convenient.

That’s the idea behind our new SPS EZpay system. It allows parents to pay school fees and lunch accounts online. The new payment system is scheduled to go into service this week.

Initially, parents will be able to pay for school class fees. Parents will also be able to make payments into lunch accounts. As we continue to develop the system, we plan to add the ability to pay for tickets for athletic and arts events, prom tickets, yearbooks, etc.

The system will accept a Visa, a MasterCard, or a debit card. For security, it will not retain the credit card number, but will ask the user to enter it each time.

Parents currently pay these fees with either cash, check, or by using a credit card at the school. We will continue to keep the credit card machines in the schools through at least this school year, and we will always, of course, accept cash or checks.

The system is easy to use. You can access it through our district web site (http://www.fairfieldcityschools.com/) or directly on the SPS EZpay site (www.spsezpayfairfield.com). The first time, it asks the user to register and create a password. It also asks for the student I.D. number. If you currently use the Progress Book system to keep up with your child’s schoolwork, you can see the I.D. number there. If not, your child can find out his or her student I.D. number at school.

The EZpay system, like Progress Book, will allow you to link all the children you may have in the school district under one account, so you don’t have to repeatedly log in for each child. The system will also email you to remind you that a child’s lunch account has dropped under $10. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours to credit the account, so if the account has dropped all the way down to less than the price of lunch, when you do add more funds, you may still need to send cash with your child for one day until the new balance is shown.

One nice feature of the system is that if there are several different fees coming due, and you’re not yet ready to pay all of them, you can choose which ones you are selecting for payment now, and leave the rest for later. It works much like an online shopping site ­– the fees you select for payment go into a “shopping cart,” and when you’re ready, you click the button for the “checkout.”

There is no fee or service charge for using the system. All you pay is the actual school fee, or any lunch amount you want to purchase. And you can print a receipt for any payments you make.

We’re pleased to add this new feature to our web site, which, by the way, is also scheduled to have a new look this week. We’ve redesigned the home page to make the site easier to navigate, and also worked to make it more visually appealing. We hope you like it.

Cathy Milligan
Superintendent
Fairfield City School District

Published in the Fairfield Echo,Oct. 5, 2007.