Biometric scanning aids students in cafeteria

Students in the Zachary Community School District will never be faced with the prospect of haven forgotten a lunch card at home again. That is unless they forgot a finger. Last year, cafeteria patrons at Copper Mill Elementary and Zachary High piloted a cutting edge biometric scanning program which will be implemented district-wide this fall.

The students are enrolled by pressing their right index finger three times on the scanner pad.  This allows the computer to select 32 identification points.  At meal time only 8 identification points have to be matched for a positive identification. The Biometric Scanning system does not use the entire fingerprint because it does not store the image. The technology uses “finger imaging” to create a template of numbers corresponding with the unique swirls and arches of each print. The fingerprint image is discarded and all that remains are the identification points. The image cannot be reconstructed, duplicated, or used for any other identification purpose.  It only takes one touch to the scanner to identify them at meal time.

Biometric scanning provides security for the student’s lunch accounts. Only the student’s finger may access his/her account. Their fingers cannot be stolen, broken, shared, or forgotten like the school identification badges.

This system is used for cafeteria identification only.  It will not replace ID cards for required for daily participation in other areas.