The EVSC Board of School Trustees approved an agreement between the Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union and the EVSC that will give the school corporation a revenue generating opportunity through the use of customized VISA debit cards. The cards, which will be available mid-August, feature each of the EVSC’s four-year high schools – Bosse, Central, Harrison, North, Reitz and New Tech Institute – as well as one for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation.

“We are excited to have this opportunity for our alumni, our employees and our parents. This is a great way to support our schools and display pride in one’s alma mater,” said EVSC Superintendent David Smith. “We value this opportunity with ETFCU.”

The agreement will provide an additional revenue source for EVSC and allow alumni, employees and parents the opportunity to select a school-branded debit card for their use. ETFCU will share the revenue from the sales generated when using the school-branded debit card. Based on projected card adoption and usage, substantial earnings could be produced for the EVSC. The funding produced for the EVSC will be assigned to EVSC Foundation for processing and will be used for a variety of purposes, including operating expenses, EVSC programs and more. In addition, a percentage of the revenue generated will go to EVSC schools for discretionary use.

“Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union is pleased to offer this new program that will provide additional funding to the EVSC Foundation to continue to expand its educational efforts,” reported Bill Schirmer, ETFCU’s President and CEO. “We are proud to serve the needs of EVSC and our community.”

The debit cards will be available at no cost with any ETFCU checking account. There are a variety of checking accounts available including those that have no monthly fee and pay dividends (interest) to the user. The funds on deposit are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration.

The cards are designed to capture the school spirit and pride of alumni of each high school, as well as current parents of students in the EVSC. The credit union’s debit cardholders earn points on their debit card transactions for which they sign, and those points can be redeemed for merchandise, travel, gift cards, or cash back.

ETFCU has been in operation since 1936. The credit union has had a long partnership with EVSC. The Board of Education (now known as Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation) was one of ETFCU’s two original charter groups. In addition to serving EVSC’s employees, it now provides products and services to the student body and their family and household members.

Those interested may apply for an account and school-branded debit card online beginning in mid-August at www.etfcu.org/join or by visiting any ETFCU office location. ETFCU locations, office hours, and other credit union information are available online at www.etfcu.org.

The EVSC Office of Development partners with individuals and businesses to raise funds to meet the greatest needs of EVSC programs, schools, and students. EVSC Foundation receives and processes donations generated by the EVSC Office of Development for EVSC programs, activities and needs. EVSC Foundation is a separate 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

ETFCU is the largest credit union in the tristate with assets exceeding $893 million and more than 66,000 members. The credit union has 10 office locations, and is the 7th largest credit union in Indiana.

TICKET PRE-SALE
An Evening with THIRD DAY

Sunday, October 20 @ 7:00pm
Seats are $75 VIP, $25 and $20.
Pre-sale is Thursday, July 11 at 10:00am thru Sunday, July 14 at 10:00pm.
PASSWORD: TD2013
Tickets go on-sale to general public on Monday, July 15th at 10:00am.

THE CENTRE

Tri-State Business Expo – July 11 @ 7:00am-7:00pm
PEF/EVSC Summer Musical “Beauty and the Beast” – July 11-14
J&J Ventures Dart & Pool Tournament – Aug. 2-4 @ 7:00pm, 9:00am, 9:00am
100 Men Who Cook – Aug. 24 @ 6:00pm
Kentucky Reptile Show – Sept. 7 @ 10:00am
YWCA Legacy Style Show & Luncheon – Sept. 26 @ 11:30am
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County – Oct. 17 @ 7:30pm
An Evening with Third Day – Oct. 20 @ 7:00pm
Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales – Oct. 27 @ 12:00pm & 3:00pm
CMT On Tour: Hunter Hayes Let’s Be Crazy Tour – Nov. 8 @ 7:00pm
CENTRE’D ON KIDS 2014

Junie B. Jones – Feb. 5 @ 9:00am & 12:00pm
The Monster Who Ate My Peas – March 17 @ 9:00am & 12:00pm
Are You My Mother? – Apr. 22 @ 9:00am & 12:00pm
BROADWAY AT THE CENTRE 2013-2014

Elvis Lives! – Oct. 19 @ 7:30pm
Mamma Mia! – December 13 @ 7:30pm
Straight No Chaser – December 20 @ 7:30pm
Hello Dolly! starring Sally Struthers – January 12 @ 7:00pm
Bring It On: The Musical – February 9 @ 7:00pm
Hair – March 10 @ 7:30pm
Million Dollar Quartet – March 26 @ 7:30pm

Visit www.smgevansville.com for more information.

“More than 187,000 clients of the state’s Family & Social Services Administration may have had their personal and financial information wrongly disclosed, with nearly 4,000 possibly having their Social Security number revealed.” – Indianapolis Star, July 1, 2013

Here we go again.

A private agency entrusted by the state with handling personal information on thousands of Hoosiers proves unable to handle the responsibility.

This is not some tiny error, either.

Many of your friends and neighbors might have had extremely personal details sent to other people…things like names, dates of birth, and medical and financial information, not to mention Social Security numbers.

And it’s not like it just happened either. The error was made in early April, discovered in early May and fixed later that month. They didn’t get around to admitting it to the public until a few days back.

Once found out, the usual excuses and apologies were hastily offered. We were assured not many people were hurt, and the private vendor accepted full responsibility. Hopefully, the financial penalties being imposed on the vendor that made this mistake will keep this kind of thing from happening again.

But keep in mind that this problem involves a state agency—FSSA—that was supposed to be a role model for private operation of public services. Back in 2006, the Daniels administration turned over eligibility services for Medicaid, food stamps and other programs to IBM. It was hailed as a step into the future.

Instead, it was a nightmare. Services were terminated for no reason, and that was just the surface of what went wrong. I still get an occasional complaint about lost paperwork causing benefits to be denied.

It went so wrong that the Daniels Administration terminated the IBM contract in 2009. The matter ended up in court, and taxpayers like you and me ended up paying the bill for it…to the tune of many millions of dollars.

So now we have this.

Much like the last administration, it certainly seems like this one is all too eager to fiddle around with programs that are crucial to helping the less fortunate in our state.

We must keep our hands off big businesses and corporations, but people who need a little help from government are perfect lab rats, and if things don’t work out, well, let’s try something else that makes them feel a little less valued in our society.

Another concern must be addressed.

When will people start to realize the perils that come from putting functions of government into the hands of private, for-profit companies?

And now we have a second scandal involving FSSA.

These are mistakes being made with your tax dollars. You have the right to ask for more from your state government.

State Representative Gail Riecken
Indiana House District 77