Students of Waipahu Community School for Adults and McKinley Community School for Adults can now process class registrations and payments online.
A new partnership
In 2021, the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) needed a website for the Waipahu Community School for Adults (WCSA) that would process class registrations and payments, and a second site for the McKinley Community School for Adults (MCSA) to process payments. Once HIDOE saw how they could leverage the efficiencies and advantages of the Portal Program, and rely on our 22 years of experience, HIDOE agreed to work with NIC to identify and address their top priorities.
Rapid development time
HIDOE requested development of several fast track technology solutions:
- The multiple WCSA campus locations needed an online solution to allow both registration and payments for classes, which were due to begin in a few weeks.
- MCSA needed a similar solution for collecting payments for classes.
- Perhaps most urgent was HIDOE’s need for a unified online payment platform. At the time, schools were collecting fees via cash or paper checks only, and a unified online payment platform would streamline payment processes, allow schools to set up storefronts, and enable school-specific system administration for products, inventory, and services management.
Room for future growth
The NIC team worked closely with HIDOE and built the WCSA site within weeks. The site allowed students to register and pay for classes online, enabled them to receive email notifications, and offered specialized capabilities for students, administrators, and other users. The MCSA site followed, providing students with a way to pay for classes online. Finally, NIC has launched and is now extending a system that will ultimately allow any HIDOE school to operate an online store. Already there is a growing list of HIDOE schools that plan to open a store, showcase and track inventory of school-specific goods, and accept digital payments for online purchases.