UPDATE: At the Nov. 19 Central Kitsap School Board meeting, the board voted to approve a 4.5% credit card transaction fee for all ASB purchases using a credit card beginning Sept. 1, 2025. Students and families can still pay using cash or check with no fee. 

Over the past few months, the Central Kitsap High School Associated Student Body has been fighting with the Central Kitsap School District on the issue of ASB funding and banking operating finances. On Oct. 17, Central Kitsap High School ASB was visited by the Executive Director of Business and Operations of Central Kitsap, Scott McDaniel. The ASB was told that funds relating to credit card and banking fees will not be charged to the district, which the funds had been charged to in the past but will be charged to the ASB funds.

Due to a deficit created in the district’s funds, the board asked for $50,000 from ASBs across the district to pay for banking and card processing fees. At first, the district simply wanted to charge ASBs across Central Kitsap, including elementary, middle, and high schools. The district wanted to use investments made from money in private ASB bank accounts, yet the district decided against it due to difficulty on schools and students to give up money that could be used elsewhere. 

Alternatively, the district wanted to directly charge the consumer. For example, when someone goes to buy something from the school or the website, there’s a fee that is tacked on, acting as a convenience fee for using a credit or debit card. The district proposed a rate of 40 cents, or 3.99% for every purchase made with credit or debit.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the United States government gave the Central Kitsap School District an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) from the American Rescue Plan (A.R.P.) to help with budgeting issues. As of recently, the government has taken that fund away. This created a budgeting deficit, which spurred the Central Kitsap School District’s board to move the responsibility of paying all credit card operations fees to the ASBs of the 19 schools within its district.

Originally, Central Kitsap High School as well as other schools in the district were asked to transfer their private ASB fund investment income to the district’s general fund. This proposal was found to not only be immoral, but illegal, according to the Washington Association of School Business Officials manual: “Interest earnings from ASB investments must remain within the ASB fund and cannot be transferred to the general fund, in accordance with Washington Administrative Code 392-138-115.” 

Even so, the district tried to get multiple ASBs, including CKHS ASB, to transfer funds voluntarily. District officials asked if the statement, “We agree to transfer ASB fund investment income to Central Kitsap School District to help cover card and banking fees resulting from ASB Activity,” be put in the minutes. 

CKHS elected not to do that. In a meeting with CKHS ASB, Scott McDaniel told the students that the Issaquah School District transfers ASBs’ investment to the general fund in order to finance card and bank fees. The CKHS ASB has found this statement to be misleading, as the Issaquah District imposed a bill on Associated Student Bodies to cover their credit card and banking fees. The ASB chooses to use their investment income to cover instead. 

Ultimately, there are no districts that transfer their ASB investment funds to the general fund to pay for credit card fees. This, along with the deceptive nature of the statement before, made many individuals lose faith in the district and made them feel that the district was being misleading in their actions.

Following these actions, students from Central Kitsap High School created a group to speak at the Oct. 23 during the Central Kitsap School District board meeting to voice their concerns. The student speakers included Ambar Gaxiola, Logan Johnson, Kai Livingston, Nicholas Brazier, Samuel Campagna, and Noah Sio. The students made their dissatisfaction clear to the board with the “district-level mismanagement of funds,” as shown by Johnson in his statement made at the meeting. 

“Not only does imposing a tax for the consumer on ASB related transaction damages student access—to those opportunities, but it makes an unflattering view of the district as it pushes its own financial burden onto students,” Johnson said.

The voices of these student speakers were appreciated by the board and district officials, and the decision the board made had great influence from the students.

“I think that without their voice, I think they would have passed either the original—they already passed the original plan to take the investment income,” CKHS ASB Adviser Daniel Sullivan said. “They passed that in September, but due to student voice, they reversed that decision. They also reversed the earlier decision of the 5% flat charge. The kids explained very clearly, with legal codes attached, why those two options would be illegal.”

Overall, these students clearly had a huge impact on the outcome of the ASB funding, with Director of District three Jim Grose even saying, “Powerful presentation by our students this evening.” The students also brought up the audacity that the board would ask schools for this money while district officials like Dr. Prince get paid so much.

“In theory, her salary could finance the $55,000 ASB credit card and banking expenses and remain one of, if not the highest salary in the school district,” Brazier said. “Furthermore, the increase in pay she received this past summer alone would cover a majority of the credit card and banking fee being passed on to the students and community. We are very concerned that the district found it appropriate to spend $30,000 on a singular employee’s salary increase, then bill the student body for $55,000 to cover a fee the district has historically covered.”

It is also worth adding that Dr. Prince does not even live in the school district she is the superintendent of; she lives in Gig Harbor.

Prior to this meeting, the board independently decided to move the ASB’s investment income to help pay banking and card processing fees on Sept. 25. On Oct. 23, the board reversed their previous decision and moved to table approval of credit and debit card transaction fees for ASB and general fund payments. The ASB funding issue is still ongoing. 

“Please put the well-being of the students first by finding a more equitable solution that supports all students,” Sio said. “Thank you.”

The Cougar Chronicle requested an interview with Superintendent Prince; the CKSD Director of Community Relations office declined the request.