District Switches to PIN based POS After Palm Scanner Controversy

Carroll County (MD) Public Schools is discontinuing the palm scanner based POS system it had begun to roll out last year in favor of a more traditional PIN based one, reports the Carroll County Times. The district had spent about $300,000 for software and hardware installation of the system at all 43 of its school sites and at its central office. That includes around $4,000 for 12 palm scanners that were installed at school sites and couldn't be returned after backlash from parents prompted the district to reconsider use of the system. The used units may be sold to recoup some of the outlay.

Carroll County Schools went to the automated POS system to streamline operations and increase efficiencies following a cumulative program deficit of more than $1 million between 2007 and 2010. The palm scanner system originally chosen to provide identity verification ran into opposition from some parents who were concerned about privacy issues.