Fingerprint ID for Student Accounts
Schools Turn to Biometrics in the Lunchroom
Many schools are embracing "biometric technology" as a way to secure student data and accounts. Biometrics is the science of identifying people by their unique physical measurements, like a fingerprint, DNA sample or dental impression.
Using computers to keep track of student lunch money isn't anything new – over half of America’s schools use some kind of electronic system to manage lunch accounts. Fingerprint scanners are replacing magnetic ID cards or the use of pin numbers.
Paying for Lunch
Parents can still pay for lunch the old fashioned way by sending cash or checks to the school office in envelopes tucked into their student’s backpack. Computer upgrades to school systems allow parents to pay for lunch electronically via the web with a credit card.
Once the money is deposited in the student’s account, he still has to get it back out to pay for lunch. Gone are the days of a simple flat fee for a lunch tray. Students have a variety of items to choose from, each costing a different amount. Hot lunch or a sandwich? Salad bar? Chocolate milk or plain?
Lunchline Time Saver
Biometric ID programs are a big time saver in the cafeteria, according to lunch room workers in Rockwood, a school district in suburban St. Louis, MO. The old system required students to enter a three to five digit pin number to pay for lunch while juggling their lunch tray. Biometric scanners allow children to pay for lunch with a quick finger tap, letting them check out faster and giving them more time to eat.
Biometrics Requires Computer Upgrades
School districts who move to biometrics IDs need to upgrade their computer equipment. Rockwood bought thousands of dollars of new equipment with help from a 2008 bond issue. Carmen Fischer, Rockwood’s Director of Child Nutrition Services, said during a December 10th 2008 phone interview that many of the district’s cafeterias will get computer upgrades, including touch screens and M2-Hamster fingerprint scanners. The small scanner both records and reads prints.
A Secure Computer System for Student Accounts
Fischer said a biometric scan is more secure than the pin number system they used to use. “A student could invert their pin number and access another account,” she said. The new system also displays the student’s yearbook photo so cafeteria workers know the computer pulled up the correct account.
Parents who don’t want their children’s fingerprints scanned can opt out. But their child will have to use a keypad and punch in a code to pay for lunch.
A class of 20 students takes about ten minutes to scan into a biometric system. Students are asked to press their right index finger on the optical reader which scans their print. Each student scans three good prints. The computer reads the print and saves several key measurement. The measurements – not the fingerprint - are then saved in the system.
Schools find that switching to fingerprint scanners save both time and headache for their students. Older systems have flaws: cash and ID cards can be lost, and pin numbers can be difficult for youngsters to memorize. Fingerprints are quick, secure, and can’t be stolen by a bully.
A Student Records her Fingerprint
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