SAN ANTONIO -- In an attempt to increase attendance, two Northside ISD schools are experimenting with electronic tracking devices.
This year, John Jay High School and Anson Jones Middle School issued students identification cards embedded with a microchip.
The locations of the chips can be tracked by the dozen of electronic readers installed in the schools' ceiling panels.
This tracking device enables school officials to know whether students are at school and where.
"When they enter those school doors, they’re our responsibility," said Gretchen Catron, an assistant principal at John Jay High School.
Catron said the identification cards could also help keep track of all 2,900 of the school’s students in case of an emergency on campus, such as a fire.
Nico Deluna, a junior at John Jay High School, said wearing the card doesn’t bother him because he said he’s in class when he’s suppose to be.
However, he said some of his classmates find it to be intrusive and are scheming plans to beat the system.
"I've heard all sorts of crazy things such as wrapping it with foil to putting it in a microwave," Deluna said.
School officials said the system will be able to recognize when a card has been tampered with, and students will be required to pay for any replacement cards.
The systems at both schools cost NISD a total of more than $500,000.
However, the district projects the cards will increase attendance at both campuses enough to cover the expense.
District officials said even increasing attendance at the campuses by one or two percent could increase its attendance-based revenue from the state by more than $2 million.
