LINQ, a K-12 education software firm headquartered in Wilmington, recently launched a platform aimed at improving parent-to-school transactions, according to a news release.

LINQ Connect "is the latest iteration of the widely used TITAN Family Portal platform, adopted by more than 1,500 school districts,16,000 schools, and over 1.2 million parents and guardians across the U.S.," the release stated

The platform provides parents and schools with a modernized payment system that eliminates the need to send cash for school lunches, class field trips or additional course materials, according to the release.

"Districts are feeling the negative effects of staffing shortages, budget restrictions and school meal debt, so they need a system to easily manage communication and financial transactions with parents and guardians," said Bryan Jones, CEO of LINQ. "LINQ Connect offers a solution that simplifies the management of information and financial transactions throughout the school year for our district partners, easing daily interactions for busy parents and students, and helping schools strengthen their relationships with the communities they serve."

As schools face unprecedented levels of unpaid meal debt, LINQ Connect allows schools to send notifications about low balances or debt to parents and guardians "in a discreet and direct manner," the release stated.

The platform enables parents and guardians to input food allergy information, review nutritional information for school meals and place spending restrictions on accounts to ensure funds last the intended period, according to the release. The platform can be translated in Armenian, Burmese, Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese.

"LINQ Connect was designed to ease the burden on parents and school district office staff through easy-to-use technologies that guarantee the information is readily available and accessible for parents and caregivers," said Brandy Keller, senior vice president at LINQ, in the release. "Now, they can digitally access their children's meal accounts, apply for free or reduced meals and monitor their nutrition through a single payment system that is secure and convenient and provides parents and caregivers the opportunity to share information with their schools."