Student IDs in a few Texas schools now have tracking chips that will allow teachers and staff to know where students are at all times, the Huffington Post reports. Northside Independent School District [1] in San Antonio has handed out “smart” IDs to its students, citing student safety as a reason for this development:
“Northside ISD is harnessing the power of radio frequency identification technology (RFID) to make schools safer, know where our students are while at school, increase revenues, and provide a general purpose “smart” ID card. Parents entrust us with their children and expect that we always know where their children are; this technology will help us do that.”
The “Student Locator Project,” as it is called, is being piloted at two Northside ISD schools, Jay High School and Jones Middle School, which have a combined enrollment of 4,200 students. When the district announced the proposal in the spring, officials estimated that the move could bring in much-needed revenue, as higher attendance figures could lead to more state funding in the neighborhood of $1.7 million [2]…