Students at Southington High School Will No Longer Wear ID Badges

Starting Monday, April 25, Southington High School students will no longer have to wear identification badges around their necks, instead carrying them as identification cards – but the change in practice has Board of Education members concerned.

The board expressed concerns Thursday that the move could present security issues at the high school, which is one of the largest in the state, and that the decision was made without input from the Board of Education.

“It’s an important issue and one we should have known about before the change was made,” said board member David Derynoski. “The ID badges were approved to address a security issue at the high school when the initial decision was made, and to change it without the board’s input is wrong.”

The plan to move away from ID badges was announced in a letter to parents sent home Thursday afternoon and was also announced using the school’s telephone messaging system.

Southington High School Principal Martin Semmel said in the letter that administrators made the decision because there are a number of other security measures in place at the high school. He said the school would constantly continue to review security measures at the school.

The new policy doesn’t eliminate IDs entirely. Students will be required to carry their ID at all times or face consequences – part of an effort to teach students to be responsible citizens.

“We believe that possessing student identification is a civil expectation that demonstrates responsibility,” Semmel wrote in the letter. “As adults, we are all required to carry identification.”

Board Vice Chairwoman Terri Carmody, a former high school teacher, said that under the old policy, some students would “forget or lose their identification regularly” as a way to get out of their first period classes.

Under the new policy, students face disciplinary action for failing to carry their IDs. First-time offenders are given a purple pass and two-hour detention, second-time offenders face detention until the issue is resolved, and third-time offenders will face in-school suspension until an ID is produced or a new one is made.

Repeat offenders also face meetings involving their parents in order to help resolve the issue.

Semmel could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday night.

Christopher Amnott, student representative to the Board of Education, told board members it was a decision that students largely favored.

The change may seem practical, board members including Derynoski and Patricia Johnson said, but they believed the board should have been made aware of in advance. They also said that the change will make it more difficult to identify students who belong at the school.

The high school has used identification badges since 2002, when the idea was presented in the wake of the incident at Columbine High School in Colorado. Derynoski and Johnson were each part of discussions when that decision was made.

School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. said that while members should have been notified, the decision does not require board approval, according to the district’s policies and procedures. He told members that the issue would be added to the board’s April 28 agenda, however.

But Board Chairman Brian Goralski said the decision still has to be addressed.

“I found out because, as a parent, I received the telephone call notifying me. That was the first I’d heard of it,” he said. “It’s a major change and my concerns are the security implications. With 2,200 students at the school, those badges let staff know who belongs.”