Fingerprint Scan is school-lunch ticket
Pastor Dale Morgan
Fingerprint Scan is school-lunch ticket*
Pine Crest Elementary is testing scanners that eventually could be used
in all Seminole schools.
Dave Weber | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted April 27, 2007
SANFORD -- Fingers are meal tickets for students zipping through the
lunch line at Pine Crest Elementary School in Sanford these days.
Technology that uses fingerprints to tell who is buying lunch is being
tested at the school. Early indications are the finger scanners that
record a digital image are speeding up cafeteria operations, which is
the goal.
If the trial is a success, the scanners could go in schools across the
county, doing everything from recording what library books students
check out to who is in which room and where kids get off the school bus.
Scanners might replace the teacher's attendance book, as well as log
students on to school computers.
The scanner system could even keep track of students who must receive
medications at school.
"But first let's see how it works in the lunchroom. Let's see how the
parents and community respond to it," said John Tracy, who is in charge
of technology for Seminole County Public Schools.
Only a handful of parents refused to let their children take part in the
experiment at Pine Crest Elementary, the first use of the scanners in
Central Florida schools. The school is testing a system produced by
Educational Biometric Technology, a Minnesota firm that hopes to move
heavily into the schools.
"I had only five who didn't buy into it," Principal Dianne Lebruto said.
But there has been no broad community discussion on whether the
technology should be used in Seminole schools, a debate that Tracy said
could come this summer.
In several parts of the country where scanners are proposed or in use at
schools, parents are up in arms. They say Big Brother wants to keep
track of their kids' every move.
Seminole's School Board approved the test in January, and it started
last month after spring break. The board is expected to review test
results in June and decide whether to expand the program. The $100,000
startup cost could be a snag.
Tracy said the board might decide to test the scanners next fall in one
middle school and one high school before committing to all 61 county
schools. The scanners might be more or less successful in middle and
high schools, he said.
Cafeteria workers at Pine Crest say it took no time at all for students
to learn the routine: Tap an index finger on the scanner, which credits
the purchase to your account. That's it.
"It is really easy," said Shannon Raynor, a cafeteria clerk. "Before, we
had to punch in their lunch number. If they didn't remember it, we had
to look it up."
Kids also seem to like the new system, which is linked to computerized
cafeteria records.
"It's high-tech," said second-grader Travis Bridges, 8. "You put your
finger in, and if you have money in your account, you pay for lunch."
Slow lunch lines are an issue in many Central Florida schools, where
cafeterias often are too small because classrooms have been added to
handle enrollment growth. At Pine Crest, lunch is served from 10:30 a.m.
to 1 p.m. to feed the 875 students who use the 1950s facility.
Officials say each of the proposed school uses for finger scanners could
be beneficial. For example, logging when and where students get on or
off school buses could help find them should one go missing.
But the concern in California and at other districts where the issue has
arisen is that when all of the finger scans are put together, the school
has a huge record of everything each child is doing.
Officials say there would be safeguards so that scanner records would
not be misused or stolen.
Most Pine Crest parents aren't worried, said Kim Bridges, who is the
PTA's treasurer and Travis' mom.
"I haven't heard any concerns," she said. "It's quicker, and it gives
the kids more time to eat."