To help ensure safety on campus, a new policy requires students to wear their identification cards during the school day.

“We decided that we should [go a step ahead] of the coming CCSD policy,” principal Donna Levy said. “Typically things come out to me from the state or the district mid-year and then you have to change [current procedures]. I’d rather start it at the beginning of the year and have everyone get comfortable with it.”

The new rule will be enforced the same way as dress code. First-time offenders will be given a temporary pass for the day, while students who continuously come to school without their IDs will be reported to the dean and receive a phone call home.

“Knowing who’s on campus at all times and that they are one of us is important,” Levy said. “Whenever a CCSD worker comes on campus without a badge, I escort them off campus. We’ve had students report that someone got off the bus that they don’t think belongs on campus, and now we will know.”

ID cards were distributed on Aug. 16 and 17, along with lanyards. If students lose their original IDs, they will have to pay $5 for a new one. 

“We are a professional technical academy,” Physics teacher Patrick Waddington said. “In the professional world, you need to have your ID on anyways, so I just think it’s one more step to becoming more prepared for the situation. As far as what it’s trying to do for security, I agree that it is better.”

Students are required to wear their badges for the entire school day, including in classrooms. However, if a student is working in an area where it is deemed unsafe to wear a lanyard, they can take it off.

“I think that wearing the IDs will just make everything easier for teachers, students and admin,” junior Ariana San-Juan said. “As far as safety, I don’t really know if it will do anything too drastic, but if there are only a few people in the hall and one person doesn’t have an ID, it will be easier to recognize that that person doesn’t belong here.”