GREENE – Primary school students in Greene won’t need to remember their four-digit lunch code this year thanks to new technology installed over the summer. They’ll be able to move through the lunch line with just a wave of their index finger.
The Greene Primary School will be the first school in New York State to use a combination of biometric finger scanning technology and Microcheck, the food service software used by the district. Greene Central Schools will be testing the technology in a pilot program for the Houston-based company which designs the software.
Technology coordinator John Griton was instrumental in getting the school selected for the pilot program. While Griton warns it will take some time to work out the kinks of the new system, he is optimistic that the district will see benefits.
“It will definitely increase the speed of kids going through the line,” said Griton. The system, which will eliminate the possibility of children accidentally using the incorrect food service number, will also protect against incorrect account use.
Lunchtime in the primary school, which does not have a lunch room, can be hectic. Teachers bring each class to the food service window. Students move through the lunch line and then head back to the classroom where they eat their lunch.
“We serve 150 to 200 depending on the menu of that day,” said cafeteria manager Rosemary Badger. More than 100 breakfasts are served off the line each day as well. All of this done by just two staff members.
“Considering the limited amount of staff, this really should help with the overall process,” said Griton.
According to Griton, the biggest challenge of implementing the new technology will be the time necessary to register all of the primary school’s 250 students. This process will start during the second week of school.
“We’ll still use food service numbers until we have everyone registered,” said Griton.
The technology coordinator will work with cafeteria staff members to process small groups of students at a time. The students will be asked to scan each index fingers three times. The multiple scans help allow for different placements of the child’s finger on the scanner.
Once the finger scans are complete, staff members will have the child place his or her finger on the scanner one last time to make sure that the correct information comes up.
Since all of the student’s information has already been entered into the system, the process takes only a few moments per person.
According to Griton, the system does not use the actual finger print itself. “It takes measurements off the finger print and assigns it a numeric value,” said Griton. The print itself becomes “just a number in the database.” It will reside in the district’s in-house data system only, Griton assured.
“Everyone is looking forward to getting this rolling,” said Griton. That includes the primary school’s principal, Carol Stanbro.
“Depending on what is served for lunch, the line can be very long,” said Stanbro. She said she is looking forward to how the system’s ease of use and the increased efficiency it will allow will speed up the line.
A letter will go home to parents on the first day of school explaining the new program. “No enrollment will be done until the letter goes home,” said Stanbro.
According to Stanbro and Griton, the communication should answer many of the questions parents will have about the use of the new technology.
“There will be a few that have concerns and that’s understandable,” said the building principal. Every effort will be made to make parents comfortable with the new program before their children are registered into the system, including individual meetings if necessary.
The pilot program, which makes the technology available at no cost to the Greene School district, will give administrators a chance to evaluate the system before an investment is made.
The pilot will be watched closely by those outside of the school district as well. One interested party is Kim Corcoran, Food Service Director with DCMO BOCES. Greene Central Schools is one of 9 districts which contract for the school food management services offered by DCMO BOCES.
If the trial in Greene is successful, Corcoran may consider implementing the technology in some or all of the districts she oversees. “I hope it works well and is not cost prohibitive,” said Corcoran.
Corcoran’s interest in increasing the efficiency of the process goes beyond just the speed of the line. Corcoran would like to see students “take more time when they actually make their food selection.”
The food service director said she hopes speeding up one end of the line will make kids take more time at the other and lead to healthier choices.