Required IDs to be distributed

Library+aide+Kathy+Lemay+prints+a+new+parent+volunteer+ID.+Each+grade+level+has+different+colors+on+their+IDs%2C+sophomores+have+silver%2Fwhite%2C+juniors+have+black+and+seniors+have+blue.

Photo by Yusra Waris

Library aide Kathy Lemay prints a new parent volunteer ID. Each grade level has different colors on their IDs, sophomores have silver/white, juniors have black and seniors have blue.

The administration is planning on distributing IDs and lanyards to all students in the main campus after picture re-takes are complete and the second round of IDs are shipped. After distribution, all students will be required to wear an ID while on campus.

“You’ll need to wear [the IDs] at all times when you’re here during the school day,” principal Scot Finch said. “Sometimes you lose it and we understand that. So if you lose [your lanyard and ID] then you might have to pay a small fee, maybe $3 or $5.”

Finch said students who refuse to comply with the coming policy will face consequences.

“Well, we would consider [refusing to wear an ID,] open defiance,” Finch said. “Just like any other situation. So there’d be pretty strong consequences for that. [It] could be in-school suspension [or it] could be [out of school] suspension, but we don’t want to go there.”

The freshman campus has already implemented required student IDs, but not all students have received them yet.

“About 700 of our 900 freshmen got their pictures at orientation, so those students have started wearing their IDs,” ninth grade campus principal Amanda Werneke said. “As soon as those IDs come in, Hebron and Hebron Ninth will begin mandating wearing them.”

With the administration moving forward with this policy, students have a diverse range of opinions.

“I’ve been at this school for four years now and I cannot believe that we have to wear lanyards,”  senior Alex Wiklund said. “I feel like the school is doing one of those things where they aren’t thinking.”

While some students disagree with the policy, freshman Hima Tummalapalli, who already has her ID, has a different opinion.

“I just think they’re really necessary for the purpose of safety, so that the staff members know that you are a student,” Tummalapalli said. “They’re not doing this to make you do something weird; it’s just for the purpose of being safe.”

Library aide Kathy Lemay will be responsible for printing replacement IDs if students forget or lose them.

“I think it’s good especially at lunch time when a teacher doesn’t personally know a student at least they would know what their name was if it [were] necessary,” Lemay said. “And it’s kind of good training because when you go out into the business world, everybody has to wear a badge.”

Currently, the exact date of when the lanyards and IDs will be distributed is unofficial. But the administration is working on getting everything ready before they roll this policy out. The administration believes that the IDs will improve the security of the school.

“I think that there’s a misconception about why we are doing this,” assistant principal Sandra Lee said. “The main reason that we are doing the IDs is for security. Another thing is we can track student movement. Like if a student is going to the library they can swipe in.”