All junior high and high school students on Conroe ISD campuses will be required to wear their student identification badge starting Monday as part of new safety measures.
CISD trustees approved the new badge requirement for students this summer. Badges have been mandatory for all district staff for several years.
Chris McCord, assistant superintendent of operations and a member of the district’s safety and security committee, said the benefits of the badges are to quickly identify a student, including substitute teachers.
The badges also are expected to reduce time in lunch lines.
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“The safety of our school has a lot to do with the kids,” McCord said during a May 16 school board meeting.
Historically, all students have been issued identification badges but it was not mandatory to wear them, McCord said.
The requirement comes on the heels of the district launching the SMART Tag system late last year, which requires bus riders boarding and exiting to scan a card, giving parents the ability to sign up for notifications and know when their child’s bus will arrive for pick up in the morning and drop off in the afternoon.
The system also records when and where a student gets on and off a bus.
According to information from the district, students can use either SMART Tag ID or their regular school identification. Students will not be allowed to attach their ID to their backpacks or other carried items.
CISD was one of the few districts that had not made wearing badges mandatory.
McCord said he contacted 25 school districts across the state, including Klein, Cy-Fair and Tomball and learned those districts all require badges on campuses at some level.
In Montgomery County, only Montgomery and Splendora schools have required badges to be worn and New Caney requires all secondary students to wear badges.
CISD Board President Skeeter Hubert, who sits on the safety committee, said the requirement is an important step in school safety.
“A lot of our high school students look like adults, look like teachers,” Hubert said.
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