Is a school legally required to accept pennies as payment?

Question

At my public high school in Florida, Seniors are required to pay for parking in the Senior parking lot.

There is a student who doesn't like that he has to pay, so in order to spite them he went to the bank and got $15 in just pennies. The school has denied this payment, and he is threatening to get a lawyer just to make the district lose money (he really hates this school).

Is the school legally required to accept pennies as payment for a service (parking in the parking lot) or can they request that he pay in bills only?

Answer 1

Title 31 (Money and Finance), Subtitle IV (Money), Chapter 51 (Coins and Currency), Subchapter I (Monetary System), Section 5103 (Legal Tender) of the United States Code states:

United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

What this statute means, in the words of the United States Treasury, is that "[A]ll United States money ... is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."

No, the school is not required by law to accept pennies as payment.

Source: http://www.snopes.com/business/money/pennies.asp