Letter to the Editor - Luschas: Do not comply with cashless event ticketing

Recently the Sioux Falls Metro Area School Districts, including Brandon, Tea, Harrisburg and Sioux Falls, announced a Cashless Ticketing Policy. Anyone wanting to attend events like football games and band competitions will have to pay online with a credit card and scan a QR code from their smartphone at the gate. There are multiple reasons why we should not comply with this policy. First off, cashless ticketing reduces funding to schools via transaction fees that the district pays. The policy also discriminates against students without smartphones / QR codes, low-income people who use cash as a budgeting tool to avoid high interest rates on credit cards, people with credit issues who don’t have a credit card, parents who don’t think smart phones are a healthy choice for their students, and elderly who don’t know how to use a smartphone/QR code. QR codes track our kids’ locations. I have to also scratch my head that the Gettysburg School district just voted on a device-free environment, while Brandon and surrounding school districts are requiring students to have smartphones to attend events. 

It turns out that if you contact the school activities director to complain, you can pay with cash/check for activity passes and receive an ‘anonymous’ QR code printout. It’s a pain but apparently, it’s possible. It is also my understanding that they will take cash at the event gate after they “lecture you about the benefits of having a smartphone and QR code.” I invite the community to join our family in not complying with cashless event ticketing by taking these actions.

Sincerely,

Susan Luschas

Brandon