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Pittsburgh school implements biometric pilot

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Fort Crawford Elementary School, located in the Pittsburgh area, has implemented a pilot program allowing its students to utilize biometrics to pay for their lunch instead of money or an access code, according to a Pittsburgh Trib Total Media article. The new system, developed by School-Link Technologies, enables children to scan a finger that is connected to their lunch account when at the register in their cafeteria and have their lunch account debited accordingly.


One of the main reasons the school has employed such a system is to combat the problem of its younger students forgetting the six-digit PIN the previous system required for debiting school lunch accounts. Additionally, the system provides cafeteria workers a way to allow children who qualify for free-lunch programs to use the program without broadcasting it.

While it is not yet available, the system is expected to be able to provide parents of students enrolled in the program a read-out of what their children are ordering and how much money they are spending. The system has received a positive response from those utilizing it so far and other schools in the area are looking to follow suit due to the success.

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A Scottish junior high school is testing a system that enables students to pay for their school meals with a card. Sandwick Junior High School has become the first school in Shetland to test the system where pupils, whose parents opted into the program, pay for their lunches with a swipe card.

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The Port Authority of Allegheny County has released an update on its intended roll out of a contactless smart card transit system, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The project was originally put on hold due to issues with the new fare boxes.

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The Lee County School District in southwest Florida is the latest to experiment with palm scanners in an effort to move the lunch line along faster. Students currently have to key in their ID number. If they make a mistake, it can slow down the line.

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Students from the Art Institute of California, San Bernardino, have joined other students from other area colleges in using their ID cards to ride the local Omnitrans buses. With a simple swipe of their card, students can ride the buses at anytime on any route, not just to and from campus.

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A high school in Tarpon Springs, Fla. recently sent out a mass email bearing student Social Security numbers. The school’s guidance counselor sent the email to Tarpon’s entire senior class of about 400 students and parents regarding the Bright Futures Scholarship program.

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If you want to see the NFC pilot project in action at Villanova University, the two partners in the project–Ingersoll Rand and CBORD–have posted a YouTube video giving a brief overview of the test.

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