Texas' Lufkin High School has installed fingerprint readers at exterior entrances to campus for students and faculty access.
As reported by local affiliate CBS19, members of the campus community must now use their fingerprint to access the school at certain entry points during specific hours of the school day.
Lufkin received approval for the initiative from its district school board last summer, and is now the first high school in East Texas to install keyless entry fingerprint scanners at campus entry-points. The new access measures are intended to both boost security and convenience for students and staff.
The biometric readers have been installed at five major side and rear entrances to the school. According to school officials a majority of its 2,100 students have opted to participate in fingerprint enrollment and will leverage the system. Those students who chose not enrolled, along with any outside visitors, must use the front door and check-in with the school’s security office for verification and access to campus.
"The biometrics was just another opportunity to make our building more secure and to keep our kids and our staff safer," said Brandon Boyd, Principal at Lufkin High School, in a CBS19 interview. "But also, allow our kids and our staff easy access to the building. The people who need to be in the building can get in."