Scottsdale schools to require all K-12 students to wear IDs

On the other hand based on some of the arrogant government bureaucrats I have talked to in the "government schools" or "public schools" as these government bureaucrats like to call them, I suspect they feel that the school system isn't their to educate the children, but rather to provide the government bureaucrats with high paying, cushy life time jobs.

One silly and amusing part of this new "Papers Please" policy in the Scottsdale School District is the "No Marijuana Lanyards" policy.

In addition to having a government issued photo ID requirement to attend class, the kiddies are forbidding to express any complaints about the insane American war on drugs.

Here is that line from the article:

"They can't wear marijuana shirts to school and they won't be able to wear marijuana lanyards," he said.

Scottsdale schools to require all K-12 students to wear IDs

by Mary Beth Faller - Jul. 31, 2012 11:11 AM

The Republic | azcentral.com

The Scottsdale Unified School District will require all K-12 students to wear ID badges this year as a way to increase security.

High-school students have already been required to carry ID badges, which they must show to buy lunch and check out books.

But starting Aug. 8, the first day of school, the high-schoolers must wear the badges on a lanyard around their necks or clipped to their clothing.

"Nothing is going to be different because they have always had to have an ID, it's just the culture of now having to remember to put it on," said James Dorer, chief security officer for the district.

Middle-schoolers will be required to wear badges within the first few weeks of school, depending on when their photographs are taken and when the badges are made.

The move will expand to elementary-school students later in the fall, Dorer said.

Also in the fall, the district's buses will be equipped with scanners, and students will scan their ID cards as they enter and exit the bus.

"This will be a great thing for us because many times during the school year we have students get on the wrong bus or get off at the wrong stop," Dorer said. "Then the parents call and say their student never made it home.

"Now we can pull it up on the computer and say, 'Yes, he got on at this time and off at this time.' It will help us find that student."

Badges for the elementary-school students will be a work in progress, Dorer said.

"It's hard for us to say right now how a kindergartner will carry a badge and how often they might lose an ID," he said. "The whole process with elementary is being developed and worked on through the fall."

The elementary students will be issued their badges on "breakaway" lanyards, to prevent mishaps on the playground, Dorer said.

Also, students in science labs or classes that use machinery won't have to wear them.

The ID-badge requirement is not unusual at high schools, but is uncommon at elementary schools.

Nationwide, fewer than 3 percent of elementary schools required their students to wear ID badges during the school day in 2009, according to the "Indicators of School Crime and Safety" report issued in February by the U.S. Department of Education.

Dorer said compliance details are still being worked out.

"If they forget or choose not to wear it, it will slow them down throughout the school day," he said. "They'll have to get a temporary ID for the day and that takes time.

"After a certain amount of temporary IDs, then it starts to be an issue of defiance and we'll handle that through referral and the disciplinary process like any other referral."

It will cost $5 to replace lost ID badges.

Students can provide their own lanyards, but they must comply with the Student Code of Conduct, Dorer said.

"They can't wear marijuana shirts to school and they won't be able to wear marijuana lanyards," he said.

Dorer said the district has no plans to install scanners in the high-school classrooms, but he said it's a possibility in the future, although it would be expensive.

"We did a lot of research on (ID badges) and the theme that continually has come up was that other districts are doing this throughout the country," he said. "The concerns about it being 'big brother' were much more so when they were doing it to track student movement throughout the school day, with scanning in and out of classrooms."

Dorer said he has received positive feedback from parents on the plan. He met with students this past spring, and they also were accepting when they understood why it's being done, he said.

Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, said that reaching out to students is important when making a change like this.

"Technology has advanced to the point where it can do so much, and the question is, 'How do we preserve a welcoming school climate without being overly intrusive?'

"It's all about striking the right kind of balance, and it's very important that students understand not only what is going to happen, but why."