The schools’ administration saw the past ID card system as inefficient and often failing, as the four-digit PIN number required to access student lunch accounts were frequently forgotten by younger students and ID cards required for library book check-out were forgotten or lost by older students. Additionally, they see this as a money saving operation as students enrolled in the program in elementary school will never have to have a new ID made for them.

Security, however, was still a concern, but the administration has been letting the community know that it is very secure system. The fingerprints of students are converted into an ID number based on seven points on the fingerprint image. David Whitehead, IT director for the schools, has assured users and school officials that the ID numbers cannot be used to access students’ fingerprints. The system was implemented for use in the high school library last year, but has since been implemented to replace the old time-clock system for school employees and will be in place for all students kindergarten through 12th grade this fall.

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