Why did the Perkiomen Valley School District establish an activity fee? Like most school districts across the state, the Perkiomen Valley School District has faced challenges balancing the budget as expenses and mandates increase while revenue has not kept pace. In an effort to continue offering high-quality athletic and extracurricular activities, the school district has established an activity fee for students in grades 7-12 who participate in a school activity. How much is the activity fee? For the 2019-2020 school year, the activity fee is $100 per student with a maximum of $300 per household. Who does the activity fee apply to? Students in grades 7-12 who participate in various school activities or athletic programs must pay the $100 activity fee. What activities does the activity fee apply to? To see a list of extracurricular activities and athletic programs for which the activity fee must be paid, please review the list at right. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LIST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME. How will the school district use the activity fee revenue? The activity fee revenue will be applied to the PVSD general fund to help to offset the varied costs related to extra-curricular activities and athletic programs, thereby allowing us to continue offering them. The varied costs include coach/advisor stipends, transportation to and from schools for activity and athletic events, club fees, and equipment related to all extracurricular activities and athletic programs. My child has been asked to pay additional money by the group he/she is participating in. Why is this – shouldn’t the activity fee be enough? Activity fees that are received for a student’s participation in a particular sport or activity do not go directly back to that group – the money that we collect goes back into the general fund and is then used to pay for the costs listed in the answer above. Therefore, individual athletic teams or student groups might need additional funds from students to help pay for trips, equipment, or other expenses that are relevant to that particular activity. How do I pay the activity fee? Once all team and activity rosters have been finalized, you can pay the associated fees online through Home Access Center (HAC). Sports teams and music ensembles anticipate having final rosters by the beginning of September. Other activity and club rosters will be finalized as the groups form and prepare to meet. To access the payment portal, log into HAC and choose the “Fees” tab. If no "fee tab" appears, it means that the team/club roster is still being finalized. Please be patient as this is a new process and may take some time to fully implement. In order to be directed to the Frontstream payment portal, you need to disable pop-up blockers on your web browser. There are fees associated with online payment processing: 25 cents for electronic payments, 2.10% for debit card payments, 2.39% for credit card payments, and 2.89% for credit rewards cards. Please note: Payments made after 5 p.m. won't post until the following morning. In addition, you should only submit payment once you see a charge in your child's account. Fees paid in advance may not be properly applied. How do I navigate within the fee portal? When you go to the fee section of the registration page to see what fees/payments have been applied to your child's account, you should use the drop-down menus to guide you. The page defaults to "open Items" - which are those that have not yet been paid. If you change the payment status to "View All", you will see all charges and payments issued and can filter this list by school school year. Or you can choose "Any Year" and you will see all charges and payments made. What if I do not want to pay the fee online? You can download a form from our website, complete it and send it along with payment to your child's school. When is the activity fee due? Due dates for the 2019-20 school year for sports are as follows: Fall Sports: Sept. 3, 2019 Winter Sports: Dec. 3, 2019 Spring Sports: March 16, 2019 Activity fees for activities and clubs are due two weeks after a student signs up to participate. What if my child is eligible for free or reduced lunch status? Do I still have to pay the activity fee? If you have received notification that your child is eligible for free or reduced lunches, please complete an application for waiver of activity fee. |
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