Anonymous
Post 01/30/2019 13:36     Subject: Re:getting paid at public schools
Our school only uses PTO. To quote an administrator at a school I asked about it - "the SAF is where money goes to die."
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2019 18:25     Subject: Re:getting paid at public schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Some schools use both. At Wilson clubs are required to use SAF for certain things, but even when money is raised and put in by the clubs, downtown refuses to write checks. The sports teams cannot hire coaches, clubs can't get supplies. There is a movement to only use the PTA accounts, but I am sure there will be pushback.


This is so absurd. Why does DCPS have to make everything a problem?!


Downtown is the worst and the people who work there are 85% morons, that is why. The best thing you can do for your school is learn how to work around them.
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2019 18:22     Subject: Re:getting paid at public schools
Anonymous wrote:Some schools use both. At Wilson clubs are required to use SAF for certain things, but even when money is raised and put in by the clubs, downtown refuses to write checks. The sports teams cannot hire coaches, clubs can't get supplies. There is a movement to only use the PTA accounts, but I am sure there will be pushback.


This is so absurd. Why does DCPS have to make everything a problem?!
Anonymous
Post 01/20/2019 16:34     Subject: Re:getting paid at public schools
Some schools use both. At Wilson clubs are required to use SAF for certain things, but even when money is raised and put in by the clubs, downtown refuses to write checks. The sports teams cannot hire coaches, clubs can't get supplies. There is a movement to only use the PTA accounts, but I am sure there will be pushback.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 20:22     Subject: getting paid at public schools
Anonymous wrote:10 years in DCPS and I've never heard of a student activity fund. Guess we didn't get one?


The rules are so strict and complicated, and it's such a hassle (especially if your front office is full of morons like ours) that it's better to develop a PTA that has the capability to handle transactions.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 20:12     Subject: getting paid at public schools
Anonymous wrote:10 years in DCPS and I've never heard of a student activity fund. Guess we didn't get one?


A SAF account is supposed to be a simpler, online way for parents to pay extracurriculars and so forth. The money then goes back to the schools to pay for the activity.

The only schools that do NOT have a SAF account, per the DCPS website, are

Choice Academy
Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Fillmore Arts Center
Incarcerated Youth Program Correctional Detention Facility
Peabody Elementary School
Ross Elementary School

https://dcps.dc.gov/page/paying-student-activities
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 20:03     Subject: getting paid at public schools
10 years in DCPS and I've never heard of a student activity fund. Guess we didn't get one?
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 16:14     Subject: getting paid at public schools
One of the reasons people form PTAs is to get around the SAF, because it sucks. Does your school have one? If not, the Washington Lawyers Committee can help you get set up.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 15:59     Subject: getting paid at public schools
Anonymous wrote:You mean like a PTA?


LOL!
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 14:43     Subject: getting paid at public schools
You mean like a PTA?
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2019 13:46     Subject: getting paid at public schools
There is a movement at my DD's school to fund activities through a new organization/mechanism. When I started asking why I was told that DCPS has been withholding payments from contractors, coaches, band leaders, etc, which is putting a strain on all extra-curricular programming.

Are other schools in this situation with their Student Activity Fund Accounts? If so, how are you navigating it?