CAPE SCHOOLS INITIATE ID BADGES; POLICY APPLIES TO STUDENTS AT THREE SCHOOLS THIS FALL

Student identification badges will be used at three Cape Girardeau School District buildings this fall as part of a three-year phase-in plan.

The computerized badge system has been considered for some 10 years and will be used in cafeterias and libraries at Louis J. Schultz School, Central Junior High and Central High School, said food service coordinator Lisa Elfrink. The badges were purchased with funding from the food service budget but will affect much more than just the lunch program, she said.

"This will make it much more efficient to go through lunch lines, which is important since the kids have such a short time to eat," said Elfrink. "But we'll also be using the codes on these badges to speed up book checkouts in the library, and I could see this expanding maybe even to student activities fees in the future."

A similar system will be in place in the Sikeston School District this fall. However, the Sikeston system will be used by students throughout the district solely as a lunch debit program.

The badge systems are expected to increase participation in student lunch programs. Both districts allow high school students to leave campus for lunch, but Cape Girardeau will go to a closed campus policy when the new high school opens in fall 2002.

School officials also expect more participation in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program, which provides lunches at reduced prices for students in low-income families.

"A lot of those students, especially at the high school level, think of that program as having a stigma and don't want to be identified," said Cape Girardeau schools Assistant Superintendent Mark Bowles. "With this system, everybody's badge looks alike, and we think we'll see an increase in students willing to fill out the forms for the Free and Reduced Lunch program."

Other benefits of the system will be parents can set up daily spending limits, and the system will allow clerks to notify students when an account is getting low.

School officials said the identification system also will improve campus security because students will have their badges on hand at all times. Students not wearing their badges must produce them on demand or risk punishment. Chronic badge violations could result in further discipline, including detention or even suspension.

Students will be able to purchase replacement badges in their school office. The initial cost will be $2, but students will be charged $5 for all other replacements.

"Our goal is for students to be able to keep up with their badges and get into the habit of wearing them," said Bowles. "People might think students will never be able to keep up with these, but from our visits to other schools using badge systems we've learned that the replacement cost is really a deterrent to losing them."

Students at Louis J. Schultz School were photographed and issued badges during student orientation Friday. The seventh-graders will be required to wear their badges on lanyards around their necks at all times during school hours or activities.

Eighth- and ninth-graders who will attend Central Junior High received their badges earlier this week. Junior high students will be required to keep their badges on hand during school hours this year but won't be required to wear them until the following fall.

A similar on-hand policy will be implemented at Central High School, where students will receive their badges when they return to school Aug. 21. The older students will be required to wear the badges in fall 2002, when the new high school is scheduled to open.

The new system has been well-received by students, parents and school staff, who said the badges increased campus security and will help to distinguish students and faculty from people who are not supposed to be in the buildings.

"I think it's pretty cool, especially since we don't have the security things you have to walk through," said eighth-grader Elizabeth Day.

Schultz student Katie Fowler liked the badges but said she wished students "could wear them on a tag or clipped to our pocket."

Fowler's mother, Ann Fowler, said she liked the identification system because it allows students to deposit lunch money in a debit account that is monitored by computers used by lunchroom clerks. Drop boxes will be available for students to deposit checks and cash before school, or students may take their deposits directly to administrative offices.

Deposits will be entered into computerized accounts as they are received and will be available the same day.

"I think for several reasons it's going to be better than the old process," said Ann Fowler. "I like the debit, because that way you don't have to worry about them running out of money."