About a week after I unregistered our daughter from her previous school, I got an interesting piece of mail. Interesting is quite an understatement, I was pissed!
I got a Fine Slip from her old school, stating that I owed them money. What? Why in the world would I owe them money?
Lunch fees! That’s odd, why would I owe my daughter’s old school money for lunches when we send her to school every day with a packed lunch?
How Lunches Work at Her School
At my daughter’s old school, the children were given a 4 digit lunch/breakfast number. They would put the number into a little number pad and the amount would automatically be deducted from their meal account.
Parents would fund the meal accounts by cash, check or with their debit or credit card to pay for lunches ahead of time. Apparently the school find this easier to manage and reduces the issue of “lost” or “stolen” lunch money. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Our Daughter’s Meal Account
Every once in a while, very rarely, we would send her to school with a couple bucks to put into her account for a special occasion. Sometimes her grandma would splurge and get her a few lunches at a time.
This was always meant to be special, not an every day thing. Packing her lunches has been one of the ways we save money, it’s much cheaper to do than purchasing lunches at school each day. It’s also much healthier because we can make sure that she is getting a nice healthy variety every day.
What Went Wrong
Apparently our sneaky little butthead was getting breakfast (even though she had it at home before going to school) at school quite often. She didn’t ask us or even tell us about it. Since she didn’t have money in her meal account, the system just kept a running tab…isn’t that thoughtful of them!
We don’t starve our daughter, nor is she overweight. She is an average (maybe a little thin) sized child who gets plenty to eat.
She said that it’s fun to get breakfast at school and they also have more variety than we have at home. Plus, sometimes the teachers will let them finish their breakfast in class if they didn’t have enough time. What is she a hobbit? Second breakfast?
The Confrontation
When I told her and questioned her about the fines, she fessed up after giving her a couple dirty looks. The most interesting thing is that she knew they would charge us the money and expected us to pay for it. WTF?
Oh, no. I explained to her that stuff isn’t free and since she pretty much stole lunches from her school that it wasn’t my problem. She told me that I had to pay it or I would get in big trouble.
I told her that she was going to have to pay for it herself and that I would feed her to the pigeons if she EVER did that again. She was really angry. She did not want to get into her savings account because she hates taking money out of there.
Too bad.
I explained to her that spending money on breakfasts or lunches when you don’t have the money, is just like how people use credit cards. You might not be paying at the time, but it still must be paid.
The Plan
Once I actually get an opportunity (since we only have 1 car), I’m going to drive our daughter to her bank and have her withdraw the exact amount of the fines.
Then I’ll take her straight to her old school and have her give them the money and explain what she did and why it was wrong.
After that, I’ll figure out how much interest she’s going to lose over the next 5, 10 and 15 years including compounding and really drive it home.
Transcripts?
As if this wasn’t all drama enough, I got another letter…3 days ago. This time it was from her new school who’s not too happy with me.
Our daughter’s old school is refusing to send the new school her transcripts until the money is paid to them. Aah! Now she’s making me look bad.
Unfortunately, my honey has been working a lot lately. Meaning that since we only have the one car, I can’t take our kiddo to her bank and old school yet.
I could just send them the money and get it done with to help the new school get her transcripts. But I will not! I really feel that my plan (getting her to the bank and school and fessing up) is the best course of action.
I don’t want to do it any other way because she will not feel the pain, and therefore won’t truly learn her lesson. Maybe her new school thinks I cheap, bad parent—but I don’t really care. They don’t have to deal with the long-term consequences of this.
Am I the only one who thinks schools are WAY wrong for allowing this?
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pankseelen/6116791399/
Wow that’s crazy! Schools should not allow that at all.
Michelle recently posted..Spending, Life, Extra Income, Food Updates…
I know, huh! Shame on them.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Getting Back into the Swing of Things
Ha! I love it — way to show your kid responsibility. I’m wondering though, if you could call the school and explain the situation. Also, you should definitely give them hell for ever *allowing* this in the first place — or at for not letting you know ahead of time…
Vanessa recently posted..Mini-Economic Lesson: Downtown parking is not too high
I was thinking about emailing her teacher and letting her know what’s going on, then she could pass it on to the office.
I’m certainly going to be having a talk with them when we go down there. That’s messed up. Kids could be racking up hundreds of dollars without their parents even knowing. Not cool.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Net Worth Update~ November 2012
I think you are spot on. Hopefully this will be a good lesson for your daughter…and perhaps the school.
I sure hope so. I don’t want this to happen to other people who can’t afford to pay for their kid’s mistakes, and they shouldn’t have too.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Net Worth Update~ October 2012
I feel like your plan is the best way to handle it. I think my school did the same thing growing up. I never racked up a bill, but I can see how it could happen pretty easily! Sucks that it’s effecting your reputation at the new school, though.
femmefrugality recently posted..How the NHL Lockout effects the Local Economy
I’ve always been a horse of a different color, so something else would have ruined it anyway. Honestly, it was pretty much ruined the day I went in and signed her up…more on that later. lol
Jen Perkins recently posted..Getting Back into the Swing of Things
Yes, you’re doing EXACTLY the right thing. As I was reading, I was thinking, “man, if she foots the bill for this kid I’m going to freak out man!” It’s exactly the right thing that you’re doing. You can explain to her that you, also, don’t like going into your savings account. But when you make debt, you have to spend YOUR money to pay it off. Welcome to the real world, kiddo! She’s certainly pissed, but this is a GREAT lesson in money, responsibility, and all that good stuff. Great job on how you’re handling it!
TB at BlueCollarWorkman.com recently posted..Blue Collar Holiday Bonuses
hehe I’m glad you don’t have to freak out. We talk about money a lot, so hopefully these things will help her make better decisions later on.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Bloggers Using BackUpWordPress Plugin Beware!
I think you made the right decision. For me, unless They could produce something that I had signed authorizing these charges and agreeing that you as the parent would have responsibility for overruns, I would not past it asst all.
I don’t have children byt my youngest sister is still in high school. I try to get her to question the incredible amount of school fees and levies that are “expected”. They’re even charging families to go to the Christmas concert. :/
CF recently posted..Why I use a car share
Schools are pretty sneaky like that, I’ll check into that when I take her in.
I can’t believe they’re charging for a Christmas concert, that’s really lame.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Getting Back into the Swing of Things
LOL, “the little butthead”. If my daughter pulled a stunt like this, I’d force her to pay back every penny with some heinously-assigned tasks. Shame on the school for encouraging children to rack up a bill like this. Extortion through slimy bagels! God I loved our school breakfast cart though. Talk about no-nutrition slop, ha.
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy recently posted..A Lovely Family Portrait and a Canvas Print Giveaway
Yeah, hopefully my talk I’m planning to have with them will resonate. They’re supposed to be teaching our kids, not letting them do whatever they want because they can be sneaky.
Jen Perkins recently posted..No Mortgage Payments For A Year—Sign Me Up!
Oh, the things I have to look forward to. Yep, she should have to pay it back with her money. I bet it won’t happen again. I would call the school and explain and I bet they will go ahead and release the transcripts. If not, they are trolls.
Kim recently posted..Can’t Take My Eyes Off These Blogs #16-Hackers Suck Edition
lol trolls! I guess I could try reasoning with them, I just hate having to call people. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to get her into town and get this stuff done before Christmas break.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Home Loan & Mortgage: Our Dirty Details