At the start of the 2015-2016 school year, Desert Vista made it a requirement that students wear specialized ID tags at all times every day. These ID tags, equipped with the student’s name, picture, and year of graduation, help staff members isolate trespassers and keep the campus safe. While the idea in it of itself has a good purpose, many students do not support it.

“It’s burdensome and impractical when it comes to safety. People could just slip a piece of paper in the lanyard and get in to the school.” Cole Barnett, a sophomore says.

The sophomores, who as freshman didn’t have to deal with this policy, seem particularly upset, though not all are critical.

“On one hand I get the safety part, but I don’t like it that students get referrals if they don’t have it; everyone forgets things.” Another sophomore, Sean Manning, says.

However, unlike the students, many staff members support the idea, as they have been required to wear ID tags all the time anyways. Some teachers pressed for this policy last year, as they felt that if they had to wear it, so did students.

The ID protocol has been tested before, but Desert Vista’s staff had not enforced it as heavily as they are this year. Whether wearing permanent ID’s is a good idea or not will soon be clear.