In the city of Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois, United States, the District 205 School Board met in July to vote on whether to sign a contract with a collection agency to recover unpaid debts.
Contracting with a Collection Agency
The board had already discussed in June the issues of contracting with a collection agency to recover the $217.000 the district owed. Nearly $90.000 of that $217.000 came from unpaid Chromebook repair fees from the last 2 years.
When the board organized the meeting in June, Jennifer Hamm, Finance Director, suggested sending a letter to everyone who owed money to request payment.If they didn’t pay within 30-45 days, a collection agency would start recovering the money.
As for students, theyhad to have paid their registration fee beforepaying any non-required fees like the ones for their yearbooks or going in for sports.
If you are interested in opening a secure and reliable collection agency merchant account, consider turning to eMerchantBroker, the #1 high risk payment processor in the US that boasts an A+ rating with the BBB.
What was the Decision?
The board generally supported the proposal. Some of the members thought it was unfair not to require people to pay their fees.
Tianna Cervantez, aBoard Member, was concerned about the issue of poorer families and how the policy would affect them. According to Cervantez,they had to inform those families about the available payment plans.
When it comes to summer driver’s education, the board decided to discuss it and the issue of whether driver’s edhad to be continued for the rest of the summer. According to Finance Director Jennifer Hamm, the district lost money on teaching driver’s ed, specifically during the summer. This was especially true of the behind-the-wheel portion.
During the summer, driver’s ed teachers earned more because they had a half hour of preparation time, which wasn’t necessary according to Hamm.
On July 11, the District 205 School Board decided to hire a collection agency to collect almost $217.000 in unpaid student fees. The district’s plan regarding unpaid fees had2 parts. The first part referred to the collection agency. According to the second part, more students had to be encouraged to pay their registration and activity fees.