Lake Washington School District (LWSD) is adding a new online payment system beginning next week.

The new system will allow parents of most secondary school (high school and junior high) students to go online and pay student fees, fines, make donations, buy yearbooks and more using a credit card. Starting next week, online payment options will be available to LWSD’s comprehensive junior highs and high schools, including BEST. The district’s choice high schools, International Community School and STEM, will be included next year. Online payments will not be available at choice junior high or middle schools due to the low volume of transactions at those schools. Once the first phase of this project is implemented, the district will work to determine the cost and benefit of adding online payments at other sites.

The district is charged fees for accepting payment using credit cards. For this service to be self-supporting, the school board approved a processing fee for online payments. The fee is 3.5 percent per transaction with a minimum charge of $1 and a maximum charge of $10. Fees will not be assessed on donations made to the district.

To make an online payment, log in to Parent Access and find the new “Online Payments” icon. Parents can select their student(s) and pay associated fees or fines. There are help and contact sections that can answer any questions.

Payments to a student’s lunch account are still accessed separately through the “Lunch Account Balances and Payment” icon in Parent Access.