School lunches. Field trips. Uniform fees, basic supplies, fundraising for new initiatives and afterschool programming. Breaking out your wallet at every corner is a normal and predictable part of being a parent, but today’s K12 school districts’ still want us to do so literally.
As a parent with school-aged children, it seemed as if every other week my kids were coming home with a different form for me to sign. I’d read it over, lend my signature where necessary and send them back with an envelope stuffed with cash and their name on the front. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been happy to do so. Being involved with my child’s education is super important for me as a parent. Parent engagement and parent communication are a critical part of what makes any given student’s education a success.
Yet considering all of the different ways we exchange money in the modern age, this made less sense the more I thought about it. And I wasn’t alone – it turns out every parent I spoke with was not only frustrated by having to keep track of endless loose leaf papers, many were uncomfortable sending their children around with sometimes
unreasonable amounts of money on them. Even the K12 school districts’ with the most advanced STEM program go about collecting money from parents and families in unorganized and outdated processes.
If we can send money instantly on Venmo and CashApp, buy products from vendors all around the world on Etsy, and access our banks and the power of the stock market through banking apps all right on our phones, why are K12 school districts still treating cash like it’s king?
We believe that a seamless, cashless campus can potentially revolutionize parent engagement by dramatically simplifying parent communication. Paywat is committed to making transitioning to a cashless campus as simple as possible for K12 school districts. Here’s how:
- Together we’ll take stock of all of the different fees your K12 school district is looking to collect from parents in any given calendar year – typically including everything from school lunches and yearbook fees to essential transportation and school supplies.
- After the first step in our initial consultation, we’ll figure out the exact scope of your payment processing arrangement with Paywat’s platform – how many fees and how many parents will utilize the platform, for example.
- Once integrated, Paywat will help orchestrate your messaging and adoption strategy for parents and their students – including sending home informational material, trainings, and more.
Paywat seeks to be your K12 school district’s one-stop shop for every related fee and charge imaginable. As a parent, the idea of having an app on my phone where I can neatly see every fee and optional add-on for my child’s education just makes sense.
It makes me infinitely less stressed by freeing me from being inundated by paper forms and having to keep track of everything I’m dishing out money for; it frees me from worrying about my child carrying around cash or that money being lost or not responsibly used by the school. Every K12 school district’s goal is to get as many parent’s engaged and in constant communication, with student’s ultimately benefiting as a result. With a cashless campus, Paywat helps bring you one step closer to that goal.
