Online payments speed registration
COEUR d'ALENE - Parents in the Coeur d'Alene School District have one less thing to worry about this school year.
For school lunches, library fines, locker fees, yearbooks and more, children's guardians no longer have to send cash or checks to school with their kids, unless they choose to.
Families will now be able to make online payments for items through the parent access system the district began piloting at some schools last year. Parents can also review their children's academic, attendance and discipline records, and see what their kids have purchased to eat for breakfast or lunch.
Alyssa Bostrom, a Lake City High School junior, said her parents used the system last year to monitor her grades and school work.
"I like that they can see how my grades are, how I'm doing. They let me know if I need to do something to keep up," said Bostrom, 16. "I don't always think about it."
School officials rolled out the new online payment program in time for registration, which began Thursday for seniors and continued Friday for juniors at the district's two traditional high schools.
"It's interesting. We're seeing a bigger turnout than I remember seeing," said Lake City High School Principal Deanne Clifford.
By Friday afternoon, 843 families had already made use of the new payment system.
Things are moving much more quickly, as well, Clifford said.
In previous years, registration took place in the high school office and the lines would be out the door, Clifford said, as parents paid the various fees required at the start of school. For the Associated Student Body fee, a parent would have to write a check. The yearbook cost would mean another check, and so on.
This year parents were able to sign their kids up for school and head home to make the various payments online by check, debit or credit card. Many parents had already made the online payments before showing up to register their children.
The online payment service is accessed through the district's student administrative FAMILY ACCESS system. A link to the system and a tutorial on how to use it can be found on the school district's website, www.cdaschools.org.
Superintendent Hazel Bauman said the expansion of the system is part of the district's commitment to expand the way it communicates.
"Embracing family access will help us provide better connectivity between our families and our staff; we are excited to roll it out this year on a district-wide basis," Bauman said. "This system is a valuable resource for our parents to view real-time information about their child's academic record such as attendance, class assignments, and grades. It also acts as a two-way communication tool for teachers, parents and students."
Registration continues Monday at Lakes and Woodland Middle Schools and all district elementary schools from noon to 6 p.m.; Canfield Middle School from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Project CDA/Bridge Academy from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Coeur d'Alene High School sophomores from 8 to 11 a.m., Lake City High School sophomores with last names beginning with A to L from 9 to 11 a.m. and with last names beginning with M to Z from noon to 2 p.m.
Freshmen registration takes place Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Coeur d'Alene High School; and at Lake City High School freshmen with last names beginning with A to L from 9 to 11 a.m. and with last names beginning with M to Z from noon to 2 p.m.