By Katharine Hacking and Luke Yun
After a successful trial run by the faculty last year, paper lunch cards have been replaced by electronic payments for cafeteria items. Students can now pay for food by swiping their ID cards.
Since these charges will be made electronically, exact prices will be visible for parents, both on the monthly bill sent home and on studentsâ online accounts, which are automatically updated for purchase.
The cost for the school to print the paper cards, the inconvenience of parent and student volunteers to sell and record the number of each individual card, and the frustration for students upon losing card after card on a daily basis enticed the school to make the electronic switch.
âPeople complained about losing the money value on the card if it was washed or damaged,â Director of Computer Services David Ruben said.
Students must present their ID, which is then swiped like a credit card, electronically storing the charged prices.
Since students will not have a price cap on their charging limit, such as the $30 limit on the paper lunch card, charges could theoretically exceed the previous price of each card, as there will be no immediate knowledge of how much you are spending.
Students will only pay for what they buy, and extra charges wonât be added for students who bought and lost partially used paper cards.
