Fairport will require students to wear photo ID badges this year
By: WROC-TV
Updated: August 29, 2007
Fairport students will have something extra to get use to this school year. Ninth through twelfth graders will now be required to wear photo ID badges. It's a new policy that's getting mixed reaction from students.
Students here at Minerva Deland will be required to wear photo IDs. School officials say the main reason is to improve school security but there's more to it than that.
“We in Fairport are certainly not going to wait for something bad to happen before we implement something.”
Principal Patrick Morierty says he's never had a serious security problem at Minerva Deland and he wants to keep it that way.
“We don’t want to be a community that says gee I can't believe that happened here,” he says.
There are already security measures in place. The photo badges are more for piece-of-mind. The purpose--to make it easier for students and teachers to know each other on a first name basis.
"Knowing our kids will certainly help identify if all the kids in the building certainly belong to us."
School officials say they'll give the students plenty of time to get use to wearing the IDs and-for now-they won’t be punished if they forget. But there will be incentives to remember.
"Usually students who want to wander the halls have to get a pass, along with another laminated pass to specify whether they're going to the lav, phone or office...but now as long as they have one of these (a photo id) they won’t need these anymore.”
But not everyone is convinced these badges are a good thing. We spoke with some high school students outside the school practicing.
"I felt safe in school last year and I don't really understand why we need IDs,” says James Schanck
“You’re supposed to wear it every day. Do you think you'll be able to keep track of it?”
“Probably not!” says Zack Taylor
Others welcome the new policy.
“You're happy you'll be able to see everyone's name displayed?”
“Yeah, because we're meeting a lot of new people this year,” says DJ Scribner
Students will be encouraged to put their badges in their lockers so they'll be there for the next school day.
