The Dayton Public School System in Ohio – an organization of 30 school buildings and facilities with 15,000 students enrolled in Pre-K through high school – is using HID’s FARGO card printer/encoder and Asure ID Software to increase attendance and security at urban schools.

The Dayton Public School System was in search of a solution that would help to ensure that students not only made it to class on time, prepared to learn, but would also help to keep them safe while they were on campus. Also important was expediting the check-in process for late students in so as to get them to their classes quicker. The school system worked with PlascoID on the project.

The previous method for handling late students saw school officials handwrite passes – a practice that caused unnecessary delays especially when multiple students arrive late. The proposed solution was to institute a universal student ID system that that would improve student attendance across the district while boosting the security of its students and visitors.

At the recommendation of PlascoID, the school system decided to implement HID’s FARGO DTC4500 card printer/encoder, non-technology cards and Asure ID Enterprise card personalization software. The Asure ID software enabled the school system to forge custom student ID cards while the DTC4500 printers gave campus officials at each school location to instantly issue the IDs to their students. Featuring a modular design and small footprint, HID’s printers fit the bill for the schools who are limited on physical space for the card equipment.

Dayton School System’s implementation of the HID solution enabled the district to print high volumes of cards quickly, which is vital as 15,000 IDs are needed in the first week of school year over year. The cards themselves are feature a uniform image quality and design and are capable of withstanding the daily wear and tear that students can inflict.

Also crucial to school system is the money saved using the new ID card solution. Because the card printers can be operated by anyone, the need to spend additional funds on personnel training is eliminated. To further ensure that the new ID card solution is a sound investment, the DTC4500 is field upgradeable, meaning that as the student ID system evolves over time, DPS can modify their printers accordingly on site.

The attendance utility of the solution is handled through PlascoID’s PlascoTrac, which can sync able with HID’s Asure ID LiveLink and the school district’s pre-existing student record system eSchoolPLUS. The new student IDs feature a bar code, used in conjunction with the PlascoTrac system. Using the bar code, late students are scanned into PlascoTrac and a tardy pass is printed automatically cutting the check-in process by 25-35%.

The versatility of the cards has led some schools in the district to add library card functionality to the IDs as well as track lunch purchases. The district has since revealed plans to expand the HID/PlascoTrac card solution to track campus visitors. At present, the school district prints temporary ID passes, but an updated plan would eventually see the district scan government IDs, like driver licenses, prior to granting access.