By Melody Cen
Staff Writer
Beginning this semester, students need to scan their IDs or 5-Star barcode in order to enter the campus each day instead of flashing their ID card.
Trial runs for the scanners started the week of finals, where students started scanning into school. For students that did not have a barcode, campus supervisors manually keyed them in.
“They’re a nice asset to the process of checking the students in and out,” campus supervisor Mike Berrios said. “It’s been very efficient, and also it helps coordinate and track things on campus.”
Additionally, the scanners also help regulate off campus lunch passes, a privilege granted to juniors and seniors. To leave campus, a student needs to scan their ID and leave it on the table at the front Lemon gate. If it alerts the campus supervisor that the student is not an upperclassmen or had their off campus pass revoked, the supervisor can prevent the student from leaving. This new technology can also prevent alumni from entering without a pass and identify students on suspension as well.
“I think this makes us more modern; these new changes definitely benefit our school and the students in it,” Assistant Principal Anthony Chan said. “The idea to promote student safety has kind of been floating around for a while, and this is the first year we got to implement it. Hopefully, we can continue to find new and effective ways to incorporate 5-Star into our administration for the better.”
The idea of scanning students in originally came from woodshop teacher, Elias Bourjeili, who began requiring his students to scan in for attendance at the beginning of class.
The administration was aware of his practice for years, but after Principal Elena Li found out that 5-Star had similar scanning abilities, both administrators and staff began working to execute a new system to scan students into school.
“Initially I had students scan in for attendance and that was based on having a regular job and how you have to clock in and out,” Bourjeili said. “Mr. Kidd then suggested that it would be smart to implement 5-Star and that eventually transitioned into the system students see today. Not only is scanning more effective, but it also makes sure that we’re using 5-Star to its full capacity.”
Money for this safety initiative came out of a general fund and with its successful trial run, will continue throughout the second semester.
“With just a quick swipe of a barcode or QR code, these scanners will hopefully improve student safety, tightening up our own security,” Chan said. “I mean, we’re hoping for the best but it looks like a success so far, one that might also extend to the next school year.”