Schools shouldn’t be forced to take cash

Right now, I have a $5 bill and a few ones in my center console. This is atypical for me as I rarely have any cash on me.

I’m not opposed to cash; I simply don’t want to spend the extra time going to the bank or an ATM when I don’t have to.

This has come to bite me in the butt a few times if I am somewhere that only accepts cash. Some places charge more when you pay with card to cover the fees. That doesn’t bother me.

I remember being pregnant and at an all-day wrestling tournament where the concession stand only took cash. I had to park pretty far away because of how many people were at the event, but I did have a few dollars in my car.

In between matches, I trekked out to my car in the cold to retrieve the little cash I had. I even scrounged up some of my quarters I typically keep for parking meters.

I was able to gather enough to buy a walking taco, enough to get me through to the end of the tournament. It was my fault; I should have brought some cash in case the concession stand didn’t take cards.

I didn’t blame the school. I didn’t put them on blast for potentially denying food to a pregnant woman because they don’t take card. I took accountability for the fact that I chose not to bring cash.

Wednesday the Iowa Senate Education Committee approved legislation that would require public schools and school-sponsored athletic organizations to accept cash for entry into sporting events.

I understand that not everyone has a debit or credit card. But just as with my not carrying cash, that is a choice a person makes. Many of the people who do not use a debit card have a checking account they write checks from. It would be a simple process to add a debit card to the mix. But at the end of the day, it’s a choice.

In July 2022, I covered the Creston Community School Board meeting where Activities Director Scott Driskell spoke on the benefits of going cashless. He said he knew it wouldn’t be a popular move.

“But when we look at the pros versus the cons, we just felt, and I felt, this move was going to be a tremendous benefit for our activities department.”

One of the reasons for going cashless was line efficiency. When Creston hosted a state-sanctioned event that only offered online ticketing, Driskell said they were able to get people through the line much quicker than with cash.

People argue cash is a benefit for the school because the district won’t have to pay fees. They say $5 on a card may only net $4 for the school to keep whereas a $5 bill will stay $5.

This makes sense, but excludes a key piece of accepting cash — human error.

“We have a lot of good people that work on our gates, but on a football night, on a Friday night, you’ll have $6,000 to $10,000 pass through 12-14 hands, depending on how many people we have working,” Driskell said.

Senate File 274 would force the school to go back to accepting cash, even if it results in needing more volunteers, more potential for error, more risk of theft, more work in bookkeeping and longer lines at events.

When it was brought up during committee that schools would need more administration oversight, they would have to set up cash boxes, keep change, count money multiple times and reconcile ticket sales, Sen. Tom Shipley had this to say.

"There could be some additional work involved, but we don’t know how much actual cash will be handled since cards will still be used. I have every confidence that school districts can make this work.”

Of course it’s on the schools to make it work. But you’ll notice, the bill says nothing for private schools. If Ankeny Christian or Kuemper Catholic want to remain cashless, they can. Even though public money is funding students to attend.

If you’re one of the people that wants the schools to accept cash, I get it. I want every school to accept cards at the concession stand. But if the school is telling you it’s easier for them to accept a certain form of payment, maybe take that into consideration.

Or, if you are one of the people in support of the government forcing the schools to accept cash, I hope to see you volunteering at one of the games or events in the future as they will likely need more hands on deck.