A student uses a pin pad to punch in their lunch number. This could soon be a thing of the past at Clark-Pleasant Community Schools. Submitted photo
Clark-Pleasant Community Schools is exploring using a new finger-scanning technology to help speed up the lunch line for students.
There are currently a few different methods of identifying students in the lunch line including identification cards, numbers and visually identifying students in some cases. However, there are a lot of drawbacks with each method, Assistant Food Services Director Craig Niehaus said during the June 26 meeting of the Clark-Pleasant school board.
For example, cards can be easily lost, mutilated or stolen, and require upkeep all year. Numbers are not practical for younger students, particularly in kindergarten, first and second grades, and can be easily forgotten. There have been instances where lunch numbers were also stolen, Niehaus said. Mistakes when punching in the numbers also slow down the line.
Visual identification is not used often because it is not practical, but it is still used occasionally. That method is not practical for substitute teachers who may not know the students as well as staff who see them daily, he said.
Introducing finger scanning technology would eliminate ID cards and pin pads, be quick and accurate, increase efficiency so students have more time to eat and ensure student privacy, Niehaus said. Parents also have the option to opt-out of the program.
“This is not anything controversial. It’s actually going to help us get kids through the lunch line a lot faster,” said Tim Edsell, superintendent.
The technology works like this: a student will scan their index finger on the scanner. The device will identify unique points to that person’s finger and an algorithm turns those points into a binary number, Niehaus said. The number is sent back to the server and associated with a six-digit pin and sent to the schools point-of-sales system. The encrypted number is stored, not the finger scan, Niehaus said.
It takes about a second for a student to scan their fingerprints and get their number, he said.
District officials emphasized that the finger-scanning technology ensures student privacy. It is not possible to recreate a finger scan from the data, Niehaus said.
Only authorized users have access to the data and the data is located on a server at Clark-Pleasant behind a firewall. The data is being used only to identify students enrolled in the finger scanning system and there are no images of the scan stored. The data that will be stored is a student’s first and last name, middle initial, ID number, grade and school.
Although it may seem scary, the technology has many benefits and will help district officials get students through the lunch line faster, Niehaus said. The technology eliminates time spent making ID cards and ongoing management.
It is also a green solution, eliminating plastic waste when cards are ultimately destroyed.
Students are already familiar with finger-scanning technology because of smartphones and tablets have similar systems to unlock the device.
District officials don’t want anyone to be scared by the technology and will continue to communicate with parents and students for a successful deployment of the technology. Presenting to the school board was part of the school’s effort to ensure communication, Niehaus said.
The district will begin communication with parents soon, including a presentation and FAQ explainer.
By September, the district hopes to purchase and install the infrastructure and begin piloting the program at one of Clark-Pleasant’s elementary schools. The elementary school has not yet been named.
Enrollment of all students in the district will start between October and December. The district will phase rollouts at the remaining schools next January.
The deployment of the technology will coincide with the purchase of a new point-of-sale system, and software will be replaced as part of that purchase, Niehaus said. The system will cost approximately $20,000 to $30,000, he said.
School board members asked about potential downsides to the system. Niehaus said there’s no way to truly know how it will work until it is in-house. That is why they are going to pilot the system at one school before fully committing to the rest, he said.
Niehaus is in communication with other schools who use the system. They’ve found the enrollment process can be “a bit overwhelming,” to keep up with; however, the ID cards are a similar process, he said.
Franklin Township schools use a similar system from a different vendor and have been happy with it, Niehaus said.
Copyright (©) 2024 Daily Journal (Franklin) eEdition