In the coming months, the software will be introduced in eight community schools in the Jefferson County Public Schools system and six Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs in Louisville. Louisville will be the first city to use KidTrax in schools, Roberts said. The software, which is loaded onto a server, enables users to print bar-coded identification cards for each participating child.
Children swipe the card across a scanner when coming and going from activities.
The scanner transmits the information to a server, where it is stored for evaluation. KidTrax lets users create a database of student information, such as age, gender, ethnicity, address, phone number and parents' names. Emergency contact information also can be included, said Roberts. The software enables school and agency officials to record how often students are visiting certain facilities for after-school activities, how long they stay and in what specific programs they participate. That doesn't include the cost of new computers, if they are needed to run the software program.