Gift Cards Policy and Safety

District Guidelines on Gift Cards

The following information is provided by the Business & Finance department. For questions or clarifications, please contact them.

Springfield Public Schools allows the purchase of gift cards for specific purposes and following the guidelines listed below:

• • The gift card cannot be used for a district employee. The intent is for the purchase to be used as a "thank you" for volunteers or for a student incentive.

  • The card should be for a nominal fee not to exceed $10.

  • Please call the Grant Office before purchasing gift cards with grant dollars, as gift cards are often not allowed under grant guidelines.

  • In order to meet audit requirements, the administrator of the school or department that purchases the gift cards will be held accountable for tracking the amounts of the cards and to whom they were issued. For student incentive programs, staff must keep a log of all cards purchased and students are required to sign for cards received. Complete records are to be kept at the school or in the department that purchased the cards, and the school or department administrator must sign off on documentation.

  • The gift card purchase must be pre-approved by the administrator and a purchase order must be completed.

  • If you have a special request that does not fit these guidelines, you must receive pre-approval of the purchase from the District Business office.

Links

• FTC: Paying Scammers with Gift Cards - An excellent article on gift card scams and what to expect.

• FTC: Scammers Increasingly Demand Payment With Gift Cards

• Apple: About Gift Card Scams - Be aware of scams involving App Store & iTunes Gift Cards and Apple Store Gift Cards.