Even beyond providing an education, arguably the single most important thing for a school to do
Despite still being a touchy subject among some people, the truth is, student tracker systems are one of the single easiest, most effective, and inexpensive solutions your school can implement to keep your students safe. With a single RFID chip embedded in a student's ID card, you have a simple way of knowing at all times which students are in your care, and where they are within your system.
How An RFID Student Tracker Works
An RFID chip is tiny, only slightly bigger than a grain of rice, and it requires no external power to run. All it does is contain a unique ID code, which it transmits upon request when it comes within range of an authorized RFID scanner that activates it. These are mass-produced by the millions, each costing less than a cent, and they're used in applications from in-store theft prevention to powering security clearance badges to highway toll collection.
The same can be true for the ID cards your students carry. For just a few extra cents per card, you can have far more ability to keep track of the children and ensure nobody gets lost.
The RFID Student Tracker In Use
When you install one of these systems, one of the first places you would want to put RFID scanners is on your buses. Without having to slow down the system to check names off on a clipboard, the system can invisibly record whenever a student enters the bus, as well as when (and where) they exit. You'll have records showing, at all times, which students were on the bus, and whether anyone got off somewhere they should not.
This works the other way as well. If a parent calls demanding to know where their child is, and there's no record of them ever boarding the bus, that's a good sign the student may have never even left their front yard.
An RFID student tracker is just as useful within the halls of your school. Rather than having to rely on attendance sheets submitted by teachers, you'll have a second set of “eyes” on the students in each classroom. By recording whether each student goes to class, you won't just have better attendance – you'll have hard data to submit to the state for your attendance-based funds. Many districts that have implemented these systems have seen marked increases in their state funding, thanks to more accurate student tracking systems.
Plus, of course, if the unthinkable happens and a student truly does become lost -or kidnapped- then these give you more tools to use in trying to find them. You'll know exactly where and when that student left your campus. Moreover, if they happen to pass in front of some of the millions of RFID scanners in use around the country, they may get picked up by that system.
Better Student Management Through Student Tracking
Some parent groups fear these tracking systems based on privacy concerns, and we're sympathetic, but they simply provide too much good for the students to ignore. It helps ensure they're safely within the protection of your school at all times, and gives you a powerful tool for student management.
These days, you need all the help you can get in managing your students. Make that a little easier with a student tracker system that allows you to focus on running your district, rather than hunting for lost lambs.