Officials at Coos Bay schools hope to move students through the lunch line a little faster this year - with the help of a new finger-scanning system.

As part of the new “Meal Times” system, Coos Bay students are being fingerprinted to produce a unique ID code, which will be used to check students into the cafeteria for lunch. According to Pamela Connelly, the secretary at Millicoma Intermediate School, the code is established from three points on a fingerprint, and afterward, the record of the entire fingerprint is discarded. The system recognizes students by scanning the tip of their fingers and measuring the distance from the three previously established points, connecting the right student to the right code, she added.

Although district officials report very few parents have refused to enter their children into the scanning program, some parents have expressed concerns and surprise at this new futuristic tracking system for lunch.

“I don't feel good about it. I don't think it's necessary,” said Brenda Bynum, a parent of students at Blossom Gulch Elementary and Sunset Middle School. “Making sure the kids are getting off the right buses or checking them in and out of school is fine, but for lunch, this is kind of over the top.”

Ron Berger, who has a daughter at Sunset, said he didn't understand the need for a finger scan lunch system.

“I don't like the sound of it. I wouldn't be agreeable to it unless someone can tell me the good points about it,” he said. “It's just like putting a number on everybody.”

Bynum said she didn't hear anything about the new system at registration, and neither of her sons has been scanned.

According to Coos Bay Superintendent Dr. Karen Fischer Gray, a letter was included in the registration packet, explaining the purpose and process of the new finger scan system. But both Bynum and Lynda Daniel, a parent of four students enrolled at Coos Bay schools, said they didn't read all the registration materials.

“I was given a sheet on it. Did I read it? No. There's so much to read that I didn't get through it all,” Daniel said. “I was told they were finger scanning and I was told there was no reason to be fearful of it. I don't know why anyone would be worried about it.”

According to Gray, there's no cause for concern, and anxious parents can opt out (see sidebar).

“We don't want to make it a big deal, because it isn't, but we wanted to give (parents) a heads up about the new program and what it's going to require,” Gray said. “Mostly we want parents to know that this is another example of Coos Bay Schools coming into the new age in the lunch program.”

While some parents find the idea of finger scanning too close to fingerprinting for comfort, Daniel said she didn't see what harm it could do.

“I don't have a problem with it. I don't know what else you would want to use a finger scan for. Anything to make the lunch line easier on them is fine with me,” Daniel said.

Marching into the future

Biometric technologies that measure physical characteristics and use them as identification are being used at a growing number of school districts. Some use finger scans to dispense medicine, take attendance, check out books in the library or ensure that bus-riding students get off at the right stop.

At Coos Bay schools, the new system replaces an older lunch program that didn't meet state regulations for free and reduced lunch applications, said district Business Manager Rod Danielson. While it might seem strange at first, the Meal Times program is designed to provide a more efficient system for the cafeteria, he said.

“Several changes have been made in processing free and reduced lunch applications, and our old system didn't allow us to process those applications as easily,” Danielson said.

The district will now have to store all free and reduced lunch applications in one central location, rather than at each school, he added. Under the new regulations, there will be a single application for all the students in a family, instead of one at each school.

“I think the purpose was to eliminate discrepancies between multiple applications for free and reduced lunch. One kid under one application could qualify for a free lunch, and one could qualify for a reduced lunch, from the same family,” Danielson said.

The $25,000 Meal Times system was selected after administrators researched possible replacements for the lunch program, and heard good things about the system from other schools, he added. The district isn't paying for the program out of the general fund, Danielson said, but the money generated by the food service program.

The finger scan system will be most useful at Marshfield High School, Gray said, where students don't eat by class or grade.

“We also really don't want students to give their lunch tickets to each other. That's really fraudulent. We want to make sure what is given to a student is used by that student,” she said.

While elementary schools have several options under the Meal Times program, Sunset, Marshfield and Millicoma Intermediate School will be using the finger-scanning system exclusively (see sidebar).

Although other Oregon schools use finger scan identification for several activities and school recordkeeping, Coos Bay has no plans to expand the program at this time, Gray said.

“I am very aware of people's sensitivity of anything that smacks of a fingerprint. That's why this is not a fingerprint, it is a finger scan,” she said. “I am very aware of how people feel about Social Security numbers, and futuristic identification like eye scans, and I am cautious about using that sort of technology.”

- Elementary schools to use other methods

Finger scanning won't be the standard process at all Coos Bay schools, even though each school will be operating on the same lunch program.

Elementary schools will be using a variety of different options to provide an efficient food service system, said Rod Danielson, business manager for the district. While Millicoma Intermediate, Sunset Middle School and Marshfield High School will be using the finger-scanning system to check students in and out of the cafeteria, elementary schools have more flexibility for their programs, he added.

Blossom Gulch, Madison and Bunker Hill elementary schools plan to explore the option of entering students by class, checking in individual students as they go through the lunch line, Danielson said. But the schools may enter students' finger scans in the system as well, even if the school doesn't plan to use it, he added.

“We probably won't use the scan system, because it's just as efficient to check kids in by class groups,” said Dale Inskeep, principal at Bunker Hill. “But I think it's probably more efficient for students who don't come in through class or by grade.”

According to district Superintendent Dr. Karen Fischer Gray, the Meal Times system offers versatility for different schools in a district.

“This system opens itself up to this kind of diversity. The schools are working with us now to decide what kind of system works best for them,” she said. “Regardless, if the school uses a finger scan the information is kept confidential and secure within the school system.”

Schools will continue to enter student finger scans into the system throughout the first week of school, Danielson said, to make sure everyone has had an opportunity to sign up.

- Parents will be able to opt students out of program

Although Meal Times, a new lunch program at Coos Bay schools, will be the standard system for all food services, parents still will be able to opt out.

According to Rod Danielson, business manager for the district, the default option for all students enrolled this year will be the finger-scan system - but if parents object to teachers or principals at their child's school, the student will not be scanned. Students without a fingerprint or code in the program will be issued an alternative form of identification, such as an ID number, Danielson said.

However, any students who haven't been scanned won't come up in the computer system right away, and the cafeteria staff will have to look them up by name. That will cut into the efficiency of the new program, Danielson added.

“But hopefully since a lot of students are signing up, it'll speed up how quickly students can get in and get their lunches,” he said.

A few parents have objected to the new system, but principals report almost no one has opted out of the finger scan program.

“We explained it through registration, and we haven't had anybody complain,” said Dale Inskeep, principal at Bunker Hill Elementary. “I thought we might have more apprehension from folks, but when people find out we're not keeping any specific data files on their kids' fingerprints, and when you have this relationship with people, they know they can trust you.”

Superintendent Dr. Karen Fischer Gray said she hopes any parents with concerns would call her, or Danielson, for more information, before opting out of the program. To contact Gray or Danielson, those interested can call 267-3104 or 267-1317.