This year, a new ID scanning system has been implemented at Poly Prep. The purpose of the new system is to assist in attendance, keep track of everyone on campus, and enhance security.

Last year’s Ruvna system, a COVID-19 health screening, is “no longer required to enter school buildings,” according to the New York City Department Of Education. The ID scanners replaced the Ruvna System. Each morning, as the buses flow into Poly Prep, students take out some form of ID —whether it be on their phone or a paper card— and scan it on an iPad located in the Novogratz building, Alumni building, Science building, main entrance or the main building/terrace. 

The system will keep track of who enters the Poly Prep campus every day. It also marks each student present or absent for the day, so the school will know if a student is missing from an individual class. For example, the system will track who is not in a class but still present in the building. According to a study by Troubled Teens, a nonprofit mental health organization,  “13 percent of middle school and high school students skip school regularly.” Incidents like this at Poly can now be kept track of better. 

The ID scanners also replaced the homeroom period for middle schoolers, during which teachers took attendance. Now, the scanners are the consistent location for both high schoolers and middle schoolers to be accounted for. The scanners collect the attendance and data for every student in one spot. However, the collective location for all, has led to complaints from some students.

“I think it causes unnecessary back up at every entrance in the school,” said freshman Maeve Bogaty.

Some students say that the lines to scan their ID causes them or others to be late for first-period classes. Other students say that remembering to scan is also a tricky aspect of the system.

“The lines get pretty long, so unless you find a spot where there’s not a lot of people, it can get hectic,” said sophomore Hannah Goldberg.

The busiest place for students to scan-in is the main building at the front of the school, shown in a graph from Charles Polizano, head of technology and organizer of the scanning kiosks. 

“It’s so easy to forget because it’s so new…especially if you’re running late and the only thing on your mind is getting to class on time,” said Goldberg. When students forget to scan in the morning, they are marked absent for the day, thus also marked absent for every class despite their appearance in the classroom.  

Meanwhile, Poly is assessing where the system can improve to account for problems that students are facing. To find areas of improvement, Poly is taking action like analyzing Polizano’s graph that shows where on campus the most traffic is in regard to ID scanning.

“We will be continuing to assess where students are scanning the most and try to see ‘do we need more scanners there?’” said Sarah Bates, head of Upper School. Additionally, more change is to come.“We’re also exploring a way to offer a geo location around our campus…As soon as you come onto campus, you might be able to just click a button on your phone that says you’re here. So we’re exploring some other options right now,” said Bates. 

This kind of system would entail “a different student ID app that you could open up and mark that you’re here, instead of having to walk up to a scanner. It’s based on GPS…so as long as you are in the building, you’d have the capability of checking in for the day without having to go to a scanning station.” said Polizano.

This kind of system could be a look into the future of technology at Poly. Despite this outlook, Bates continues that this new concept “is only an idea we’re considering to establish if we have the technology to do so.” 

“I hope that students are finding the ID system efficient and useful. I know it can be a pain to stand in line, but we’re trying to address any of those issues. Ideally, this is really for the safety and security of everybody,” said Bates. “The main goal of the new protocols is to assess our attendance system, ensure we have accurate on-campus attendance for safety and security, and try to make it as easy as possible for students to scan in when they arrive.”