The Ladue School District started a new lunch system this year by inserting computerized sale registers in the cafeteria.
According to the district, the new system should make purchasing lunch more convenient by requiring a five digit PIN number rather than cash or an identification card. Once the PIN number is entered, the amount purchased should automatically deduct from the student’s account.
The new system also allows parents to make deposits into their child’s account as well as check the balance at any time, which most parents find more convenient.
Many students believe that the previous lunch system worked fine. This new system is tedious and unnecessary. The register lines slow the lunch lines down as students constantly forget their five-digit PIN number. These random, computer-generated PIN numbers are not related to the other numbers and login-ins Ladue students have to remember. Also, adding to the slowness of the lines is that the cafeteria workers have not adjusted to the new system.
One concern is that other students will type in the wrong PIN number and use all of another student’s money. When students pay for their lunches, there is no verification that the student who typed in the PIN number is the PIN number’s owner.
Another concern is about the cleanliness of the new system. With students coughing on their hands and then touching the keypad right before they eat, germs and diseases can be passed around very easily.
As the school year progresses, hopefully the new lunch system will become much more convenient for students and staff to use. However, until then, Ladue, this new PIN system has to go. #