Fingerprinting For School Lunch

[Nbadan]

AKRON, Ohio - Several Ohio schools are identifying students who receive free or reduced-price school lunches by fingerprint -- a high-tech system that has been praised by school officials, but also questioned because of privacy concerns.

Akron Public School district leaders say the adoption of the system, dubbed iMeal, has resulted in more middle-school students taking advantage of free or reduced-price lunches because they don't have to hand over a ticket that identifies them as low income.

"Fingerprinting is for felons not for 5-year-olds," said Christine Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. "We're setting up for children that surrendering your fingerprints or other parts of your identity for school lunches is a good idea." Link said there's also the issues of identity theft or the prints being misused by law enforcement. "If Akron schools has every child's fingerprint on file, think how tempting that is to law enforcement," Link said.

Akron schools keep only a template of each student's fingerprint and deletes the original. Parents who do not want their children fingerprinted may obtain an opt-out form.

WOIO (http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=2885663&nav=0rd1VqTJ)

I guess imbedded chips would have been to invasive? :depressed

[office handle]

you want handouts you play by the rules.

[SpursWoman]

I don't think fingerprinting is necessary.

In NEISD (dunno about other districts) each child has a lunch account that parents prepay and they have a very simple account number to remember to *charge* their lunch or breakfast. Why can't they just do that with the children who receive free/reduced lunch too? Just have the value of their benefit as their account balance...and they'd be just like everyone else...no *stigma* to embarrass them or whatever.

I don't think it needs to be this complicated.

[office handle]

i think single women with children need to find themselves husbands any way they can, even acting like a whore if need be. that would go a long way towards solving this problem.

[Shelly]

I don't think fingerprinting is necessary.

In NEISD (dunno about other districts) each child has a lunch account that parents prepay and they have a very simple account number to remember to *charge* their lunch or breakfast. Why can't they just do that with the children who receive free/reduced lunch too? Just have the value of their benefit as their account balance...and they'd be just like everyone else...no *stigma* to embarrass them or whatever.

I don't think it needs to be this complicated.


Same with Northside.

[SpursWoman]

i think single women with children need to find themselves husbands any way they can, even acting like a whore if need be. that would go a long way towards solving this problem.



Oh really?

As a single woman with children, perhaps I should be taking notes.

[office handle]

actually i think you wrote the book

[SpursWoman]

:)

[Experiment2100]

actually i think you wrote the book

That shits fucked up man. (excuse my language)

[Useruser666]

What the hell happened here?

[office handle]

dont ask me man

[Kori Ellis]

Hey now, let's keep this on the subject at hand.

[Useruser666]

I think you should have posted then entire arcticle Dan.

Fingerprint school lunch programs raise concern
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AKRON, Ohio - Several Ohio schools are identifying students who receive free or reduced-price school lunches by fingerprint -- a high-tech system that has been praised by school officials, but also questioned because of privacy concerns.

Akron Public School district leaders say the adoption of the system, dubbed iMeal, has resulted in more middle-school students taking advantage of free or reduced-price lunches because they don't have to hand over a ticket that identifies them as low income.

"What we've accomplished is taking that stigma away," said Debra Foulk, coordinator of the Akron schools' Child Nutrition Services.

But some have raised concerns about privacy issues.

"Fingerprinting is for felons not for 5-year-olds," said Christine Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. "We're setting up for children that surrendering your fingerprints or other parts of your identity for school lunches is a good idea."

Link said there's also the issues of identity theft or the prints being misused by law enforcement.

"If Akron schools has every child's fingerprint on file, think how tempting that is to law enforcement," Link said.

Rocky River School District officials had concerns about the system, but adopted it after determining they could maintain students' privacy, superintendent Dennis Allen said.

He said the system streamlines lunch lines, eliminates cash transactions and benefits students who receive free or reduced lunches in the suburban Cleveland district.

"They just go through like any other student," Allen said.

The iMeal system includes touch-screen registers, software and fingerprint-imaging scanners. Students' fingerprints are put into a scanner that makes a template of numbers corresponding with the unique swirls and arches of each print.

When students go through the lunch line, they place their finger on a scanner that identifies them based on the stored template.

Akron schools keep only a template of each student's fingerprint and deletes the original. Parents who do not want their children fingerprinted may obtain an opt-out form.

Students have the option of using personal identification numbers rather than fingerprints. Foulk said about 4 percent of the students have chosen that option.

Akron schools spent $700,000 on the new cafeteria system with the money coming from the district's meal program budget, which pays for itself.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

I don't think it's a bad idea really. And if you don't like it, you can opt out.

[SpursWoman]

They probably started with the fingerprints under the assumption that small children weren't bright enough to remember a little 4-digit pin and it's just as easy to touch a little keypad or whatever.

That process does seem as though it would be a little more expensive (unnecessarily) than systems that are already in place.

[Useruser666]

They probably started with the fingerprints under the assumption that small children weren't bright enough to remember a little 4-digit pin and it's just as easy to touch a little keypad or whatever.

That process does seem as though it would be a little more expensive (unnecessarily) than systems that are already in place.


Akron schools spent $700,000 on the new cafeteria system with the money coming from the district's meal program budget, which pays for itself.

Seems ok to me if it's paying for itself. I don't know how much more money it costs than a regular system.

[Sec24Row7]

Would be better that everyone at school get a ID card that they have to wear around their neck that has name/picture/adress/contact info on it and can be swiped at the register of the lunchline.

[Useruser666]

Would be better that everyone at school get a ID card that they have to wear around their neck that has name/picture/adress/contact info on it and can be swiped at the register of the lunchline.

Kids lose cards, forget numbers, and both can be stolen.

[Hook Dem]

i think single women with children need to find themselves husbands any way they can, even acting like a whore if need be. that would go a long way towards solving this problem.
You should be a pastor or priest with all this wonderful advice cause they ain't got nothing on you!

[Sec24Row7]

Kid's lose schoolbooks too.

So what. Doesn't stop them from getting another one.

They can't swipe it themselves, they have to have an adult at the register look at it with their picture on it.

It's not a difficult concept.

It requires minimal intelligence and less than marginal competence of all involved.

[Useruser666]

Kid's lose schoolbooks too.

So what. Doesn't stop them from getting another one.

They can't swipe it themselves, they have to have an adult at the register look at it with their picture on it.

It's not a difficult concept.

It requires minimal intelligence and less than marginal competence of all involved.

I don't understand your logic. By using the thumb print scanning, you can eliminate the chance of losing an ID card or having a kid forget their number. Also, their thumb print can't be stolen from them. I would imagine having a kid put their thumb on a button is far easier and more efficient than having them show you their ID card and having to swipe it. Text books are a whole different problem.

[gophergeorge]

Isn't there a school here in SA that GIVES breakfast away to everyone? Think it actually saved them money due to the reduced paperwork.....

[JohnnyMarzetti]

I think we should scan their eye balls.