VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach City Public Schools and the ticketing company it works with have confirmed that some families were overcharged service fees for student events.
A Virginia Beach parent signed his daughters up for a summer sports camp. The total cost was $550, and he paid through GoFan — a third-party platform approved by the school district. On top of the $550, he paid a $30.50 service fee.
He questioned the fee, wondering if he could avoid it. He also asked how service fees like this are regulated.
In an email, the district said Kempsville camps programs "are a fundraiser and leadership experience for the various athletic teams and student programs that sponsor them. Participation in these programs is entirely voluntary and is not part of the free public education that we are required to provide to our students."
The school policy said, "reasonable fees and charges may be collected for admission to athletic contests, student performances that are open to the public and other programs sponsored by the school."
According to a contract between Virginia Beach City Public Schools and GoFan, dated October 2020, the bigger the purchase, the lower the service fee. He says his daughter's cheer package was processed as two separate registrations — meaning he was charged a 5% fee instead of the 3% he expected to have paid.
He reported the discrepancy to Virginia Beach City Public Schools in April.
In a statement, GoFan says it discovered the error this summer. Virginia Beach City Public Schools confirmed to me that an audit was done and found some fees did not match the fee structure in its contract with GoFan.
In a statement, GoFan says the error affected approximately 5% of tickets sold for VBCPS events — and that the average discount not applied was 51 cents per ticket. GoFan says the discounted rate was incorrectly coded starting when its partnership with the district began in October 2020.
The district is now reviewing affected transactions going back to that date.
GoFan says it is working to issue refunds to affected customers — and any amounts that can't be returned directly will go back to the school district. It's hoping to resolve the issue by the end of November.
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