Students have been getting used to using their 5-Star app when showing their off-campus passes during lunch or release periods. This week, students could only show a physical ID to leave during lunch or a release period.
According to the CHS, the change has caused backlash across campus, with longer wait times for getting off campus, broken scanning machines, and denial of leaving off campus without their physical sticker.
Principal Bennett Wutkee commented on why students were not allowed to use the 5-Star app.
“It was always the expectation that students use their ID cards, but it’s been a challenge because kids will leave their ID cards in their car or at home […] 5-Star wasn’t set up to be able to do that tap.”
Students should expect to see changes after returning from Thanksgiving break.
“Starting Thanksgiving, we are going to be able to use 5-Star to tap kids out […] we had a good meeting recently with the school district where we were able to get permission to do that,” said Wutkee
Devon Aaron, ASB President, acknowledged the recent shift from the 5-Star app to physical IDs.
“I was told that it would be able to be used for leaving and coming to school. I wish we were able to use it this past week, but I understand why not,” said Aaron. “I asked the district why 5-Star is the same as an ID sticker, you see that they have off campus and they leave, they don’t know who left.”
Using IDs this week was enforced to better know who should and shouldn’t be off campus at lunch. After break, a new trial plan will be introduced.
“In case of an emergency, you don’t have the records of who’s on campus and who’s not, so that’s why the tap system was introduced late last year and the district has been emphasizing who is on campus at all times. We presented a new system to get rid of the tap scanners completely and it got approved, so we are now not using tap scanners at all and we are using 5-star only,” said Aaron.
Starting after break, students will return to being able to get on and off campus with 5-Star exclusively.
