Huntley 158 board approves higher athletic and registration fees and a $50 late penalty; district to enable installment payments

The board approved several fee changes at its Feb. 19 meeting, including athletic fee updates and a modification to the district’s registration fee policy that adds a $50 late payment penalty to be applied after Sept. 1. Administration said the baseline registration fees the board approved will apply if paid by Sept. 1; otherwise the late fee will be added. The motion to adopt the registration fees passed on a 6–0 roll call vote.

Administration explained that the district uses RevTrack as its payment service provider and plans to integrate payments with PowerSchool so that families can see and pay fees online. Officials said they will enable installment or payment‑plan functionality so families can make partial payments toward multiple students, and that the district will work with the vendor to allocate payments in a way that minimizes unfair late penalties across siblings.

Board members asked about merchant service fees charged to families for credit/debit and eCheck transactions. Administration said current merchant service fees are roughly 3.9–3.94% for card payments and that they are seeking a long‑term contract that could reduce ACH/eCheck costs to the 1–2% range. Administrators said they will aim to finalize vendor pricing before the registration billing rollout in April/May and will communicate payment options and FAQs to families.

The board also approved athletic fee changes and the familiar practice of allowing families to prepay or stagger payments; administrators said communication, FAQs and possibly video tutorials will be prepared to reduce confusion and summer lapse in outreach. No changes to fee waiver processes were described at the meeting.