technology at schools
will be given a tryout
Iris recognition
technology at schools
will be given a tryout
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
PLUMSTED — The township school district has been chosen as the recipient of a $292,360 federal school safety grant.
The grant being given by the U.S. Department of Justice will provide for technology that will be used in a study evaluating iris recognition technology.
Plumsted school district technology coordinator Michael Dean said he applied for the grant when he became aware of its availability. He said that only parents and school district personnel who volunteer to take part will be used in the study.
Dean said the technological equipment that records an individual’s iris (the colored part of the eye) is not a new technology and is already in use in cash machines in Europe and in all Canadian airports.
The pilot program in Plumsted that could one day be used in schools across the country will be called T-PASS (Teacher-Parent Authorization Security System). It will control access into the district’s three schools — the New Egypt Elementary School, New Egypt Middle School and New Egypt High School.
Dean said the equipment will ensure the positive identification of adults who come to pick up students at the schools.
He said the equipment will likely be installed in the schools after Jan. 1. He said people who volunteer to participate will have a black and white digital image taken of the iris of their eye. That information will be stored in a database.
Anyone who then seeks to enter a Plumsted school will have their picture taken by a camera positioned at the locked door. The picture will be transmitted to the district’s database where it will be compared to the images being stored. A match means the door will automatically be unlocked.
"For a single proof mode, iris identification is the most accurate," Dean said, adding there will be no danger in having a picture of the iris taken.
He said the procedure is non-invasive and compared it to having a digital photo taken.
Understanding that not every parent or school district employee may want to participate, Dean said people who do not wish to have a picture of their iris taken and stored will continue to gain access into the buildings the old-fashioned way — by pressing a buzzer at the school’s front door and being let in by school personnel.
Jersey Business Systems, Robbinsville, will install the equipment that was patented by Iridian Technology, Moorestown.
According to Dean, the study will be performed by the Maryland-based company 21st Century Solutions under the auspices of Dr. Craig Uchida.
The grant was officially accepted by the Board of Education on Oct. 21.
Dean said that at the end of the six-month study, a school safety committee made up of parents will be consulted along with the conclusions of the study as to whether the technology will remain in use at the schools.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Phil Meara told the Tri-Town News, "This will make our schools even more secure than they are now and will also be valuable for schools across the country."