To insure their visibility, guards must now wear clothing identifying themselves as security instead of the street clothes they have worn in past years. In a measure designed to prevent theft, the two candy vending machines on staircases in the often-deserted rear of the school have grates covering the glass, Gainous said. Ninety-nine percent of the students are cooperative. One student who agrees with that statement is junior Ihuoma Ikpeana who said that she feels IDs are useful in the security effort because they identify people who should not be in the school. However, some students say that the IDs make them feel uncomfortable.
Teachers say the IDs are helpful.
Broadcast Journalism teacher John Goldman said that the IDs let students know who staff members are and let teachers know who students are. Besides security reasons, IDs are being used to ease some school functions including buying lunch, assistant principal Paul Farmer said. Students can pay into a lunch account and have the cost of their lunch withdrawn from their account automatically when they scan their ID's bar code. Students checking out books from the library also have to scan their bar code. Students who ride a bus have a 'B' written on their ID, indicating that they can receive a public bus token if they stay after school for an extracurricular activity, according to Farmer.