School Board weighing options to protect against fraud
By SARAH MANN Daily News
HARTFORD — Credit card fraud? Ten thousand dollars. Lawyer fees to recover lost funds? Tens of thousands. Knowing your school district is safe from credit card fraud?
By SARAH MANN Daily News
HARTFORD — Credit card fraud? Ten thousand dollars. Lawyer fees to recover lost funds? Tens of thousands. Knowing your school district is safe from credit card fraud?
That’s not priceless; that’s common sense, according to the Hartford Jt. 1 School Board. Board members are considering a change to the district’s policies that would change the way district officials spend money. With security breaches at Target and other companies where thousands of customers’ personal data was stolen by hackers, Hartford Jt. 1 Director of Business Services John Stellmacher began re-thinking the way the district does its spending.
The revised policy would stipulate that the debit cards that the district uses to make material purchases no longer be tied to the district’s primary checking account.
“It will significantly limit our exposure in the event we make a purchase at a company that has a breach,” Stellmacher told board members. “Our primary checking account, that data won’t be on any of our debit cards ever again.”
Instead, the district’s debit cards, which are used by Stellmacher, District Administrator Mark Smits, and three assistants in the business and executive office, would be tied to an alternate account specifically for that purpose. “There will never be more than $10,000 in the account,” Stellmacher said.
Given the risks associated with using debit cards, board member Barb Lindert questioned why the district just didn’t pay with paper checks instead.
That’s not feasible anymore, Stellmacher said. “We get a handful of requests every month to move to a (paperless transaction), Stellmacher said. “It just eliminates some of the handling of processing that check.”
“There is some protection in place,” School Board President Jeff Becker added. “Our (main) funds would not be affected. ... We’re not going to shortterm borrow to cover the loss.”
The revised policy would stipulate that the debit cards that the district uses to make material purchases no longer be tied to the district’s primary checking account.
“It will significantly limit our exposure in the event we make a purchase at a company that has a breach,” Stellmacher told board members. “Our primary checking account, that data won’t be on any of our debit cards ever again.”
Instead, the district’s debit cards, which are used by Stellmacher, District Administrator Mark Smits, and three assistants in the business and executive office, would be tied to an alternate account specifically for that purpose. “There will never be more than $10,000 in the account,” Stellmacher said.
Given the risks associated with using debit cards, board member Barb Lindert questioned why the district just didn’t pay with paper checks instead.
That’s not feasible anymore, Stellmacher said. “We get a handful of requests every month to move to a (paperless transaction), Stellmacher said. “It just eliminates some of the handling of processing that check.”
“There is some protection in place,” School Board President Jeff Becker added. “Our (main) funds would not be affected. ... We’re not going to shortterm borrow to cover the loss.”
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