ID Scanners Come to AAS

On Monday November 19th, 2007 my school will begin using the CAAS system for student entry into the building. This is an ID scanning system. Many students were upset after receiving this information on Wednesday. The Academy of American Studies, a tight knit community of students, who are familiar with all the teachers, and staff in the building, were completely puzzled by this new system. Why was there a need for scanning ID’s when there have been no reported problems with just showing ID’s to the school safety officials? According to this new policy students would enter from the side entrance instead of the main entrance. This has created many concerns for the students in my school. This system will be put in place from 7:10 to 10:00a.m from Monday to Friday.

Personally I wake up at 5:00 to reach to school at exactly 7:15, and this new system creates a new problem for me. I would have to wake up earlier, to arrive at school earlier, just to wait on line, to swipe my ID. I would have to wait for the people who may have left their ID's, and for those who may not know how to swipe their cards, and for those whose ID cards may be invalid or do not work. This creates chaos and havoc not only for the students but also for the teachers, who will have students continuously walking in late to class because of the new ID swiping machine.

My school is a campus, and has two separate buildings. These scanners are put in place in the north building but not in the south. This to me seems unfair. What is the point of the scanners then if only one building has them?

There is also a safety concerns connected with this new policy. Students will now be entering through the side door instead of the main door; this may lead to more students cutting school. This also is a safety concern because students would have to cross the street and walk all the way to the opposite end of the street and turn a corner to get to the side entrance. There is still a great deal of confusion between students around this policy. I for one am looking forward to seeing how this policy is implemented, and how it will affect my classes. I know I will be a very upset student if on Wednesday I am late of my AP calculus quiz at 7: 15 because of this new system.