EDITORIAL
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Safety issues call for identification card system
T
he Staples handbook states that before a student leaves school, the Assistant Principal’s (AP’s) Office must receive a written request or phone call from the student’s parents, or the parent can physically request a dismissal in the AP’s office. Additionally, students must sign out at the front desk before leaving and sign back in as well as bring a note upon returning. But, let’s be honest... those rules are broken more often than they are followed. Instead of instituting a policy that entices students to break the rules and sneak in and out of the building, the Editorial Board proposes implementing an identification card system as a better method of tracking students’ whereabouts. Doing so will improve school security and hold students accountable for breaking rules regarding off-campus policy. Honesty and security: When sitting at lunch students see a group of their peers, Starbucks in hand searching for a door to enter the building. Because all the doors to the school are locked for safety purposes, students who are sneaking back in resort to banging on the doors in the hopes that another student will open the door for them, which is also not allowed. The pressure for students to let their peers in creates an unsafe environment as students could potentially let people in who are a threat to the school. The adoption of an identification card system would
24 an ’ h t provide a viable remedy n i Ka to both the issue of ival h S y sneaking ic b h p a Gr out and of students opening the doors for their peers. Because identification cards would track where students are in the building and when they enter, students would be less apt to sneak out because they would be held accountable for their actions. In addition, students a simple solution. If an idenwould be able to scan them- tification card is lost, the stuselves into the building, elim- dent can report the missing inating their need to bang on card and it can be deactivated. the door and the risk of letting unsafe people into the building. Examples: Other school districts around the state have already How they work: A possible concern with implemented the use of idenproviding students swipe cards tification cards. Middletown might be that students could Public Schools implementaccess the school when it is not ed ScholarChip kiosks at the properly supervised. However, main office, bus loop and stuthere are ways around this is- dent-parent drop off entrances sue. In order to make sure that around the buildings of their students are not able to enter high school and middle school, the building outside of school according to FOX61. The stuhours, the scanning devices dents carry their student IDs would be shut off at the end with them all day and their of the day and on weekends. attendance is managed via the As a bonus, the scanning ScholarChip kiosks. Middlesystem could function as a town Public Schools estabmeans to quickly tally students lished this system as a means in emergency situations. For of improving the attendance example, if there is a lockdown, and safety of the students. the identification cards could be used to keep track of the Conclusion: Under the current sign-in/ students who are pulled into classrooms from the hallway. sign-out system, Staples stuAnother concern might dents have flakey attendance, be that scan cards could be write fake passes and sneak in lost and fall into the wrong and out of school hiding from hands. But, once again, there is Dana’s security car patrolling
the perimeter of the building. The board proposes that Staples implements an identification card system for students as a means of improving the safety and attentiveness of the Staples community. The Editoral Board voted 12-2 in favor of this opinion.
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