SCAHS swipe system launches

By: Lauren Hensley STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The Swipe K-12 is designed to make keeping track of 2,400 State College High School students a little easier. But when the new swipe attendance system launched Monday, students said they were greeted by long lines. Typically I come in around 7:55 or 8:00 a.m., because I don't like to get here super early. But I came in at 7:40 a.m. because I figured there would be a line, and already half an hour earlier before school begins, there was already a line backed up down the hallway and by 8:00 a.m., there was like 50 kids waiting in line, State College senior Kaitlyn Baker said. Baker said she waited in line for more than 20 minutes, and when the bell struck at 8:10 a.m., the system was shut down and students were admitted without swiping. According to the school's principal, this was a strategic plan all along. We are purely using this as practice this week, and by 8:10 a.m. what we are shutting the system down because we want our students in class, getting on with their learning experiences, so it hasn't been a case that if kids came in after that time that they were marked unexcused. We are still using our regular attendance procedures this week, Scott DeShong, State College Area High School principal said. DeShong said on day one, just fewer than 2,000 students successfully swiped in prior to the start of the school day. He said on day two, even more students successfully swiped in. He believes once students adjust to the new process, there will no longer be a wait to get inside. Really we are very happy the way things went the first day, DeShong said. The Swipe K-12 cost about $12,000 plus a $5,000 annual maintenance fee. The district said that's a small price tag. But when money is tight and budgets are being cut, many students think it's not worth it, saying the old-fashioned system worked just fine. I don't understand why really, what happened with the regular attendance versus the swipe system, but it is a hassle, senior Emily Kuskowski said.