AP
Sunday, November 5, 2006

A plan to fingerprint elementary school pupils when they buy lunch has some parents worrying that Big Brother has come to the cafeteria.
The Hope Elementary School District has notified parents that, beginning this month, pupils at Monte Vista, Vieja Valley and Hope elementary schools will press an index finger to a scanner before buying cafeteria food.

The scan will call up the pupil's name and ID, teacher's name and how much the pupil owes, since some receive government assistance for food.

It is meant to speed up cafeteria lines.

"It raises sanitary issues, privacy issues - it is kind of Orwellian," said Tina Dabby, a parent of two at Monte Vista Elementary.

Currently, the information is written on paper and transferred to computer so reports can be compiled and sent to the state and federal governments, which reimburse school districts for the subsidized lunches served.