N.J. School District has an eye on security.

The small Plumsted Township School District in New Egypt, N.J., made national headlines three years ago when it implemented an iris recognition security system to scan the colored portions of visitors' eyes.

Now another district--located only 20 miles away--has installed a more advanced version of the biometric technology with the aim of increasing safety and saving staff time. Both districts' technologies, worth about $20,000, were funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The security system at the Freehold (N.J.) Borough School District operates on a similar principle as that in New Egypt. A visitor looks into a small camera, which takes a digital picture and compares the unique iris pattern to the stored images on file.

If a match is found, the door to the school automatically opens.

Parents, teachers and staff could be assigned access rights at only certain schools or hours.

The Freehold system is voluntary for parents, staff and volunteers, who get their iris patterns stored in the computer system by looking into a second digital camera placed in a school office.

Freehold's technology, activated in January, goes beyond the mere entry-access functions used in New Egypt to include a visitor management system.

Parents and visitors whose iris patterns are on file after gaining entrance report to the office to get their eyes re-scanned by that second camera, at which point the school's visitor management software system performs additional security functions. A badge is printed containing the picture of the visitor and the person visited.

The system keeps a digital visitor log and also can "red flag" parents who have lost custodial rights and can't sign out their child.

The badges and red-flagging are also used for parents and other visitors who have not volunteered to have their irises scanned. After being manually buzzed in, they must still report to the office to register with the software system by providing basic information and having a picture taken to receive a badge. The visitor management system can "red flag" parents even without having an iris pattern record.

New software also sounds an alarm if someone tries to slink through the door by closely following a person who has just gained access through an iris scan.

In addition to boosting parents' and teachers' sense of security, the system also is less labor-intensive than a manual door-buzzer set-up, says Erika Jimenez, a Freehold teacher who was co-coordinator of the iris project.

About half of Freehold parents have volunteered to use the technology, Jimenez estimates. Some parents remain wary, wrongly assuming the system collects detailed personal information, she says.

"It's a lack of knowledge about the system and what it's used for," she says.

New Egypt parents have embraced the technology, says Tom Tramaglini, director of technology and supervisor of curriculum, instruction and assessment at the Plumsted district.

The iris technology has been effective, he says, adding that it has helped prevent some students from entering campuses they don't attend.

"I think it's a wise investment," Tramaglini says, "because in this kind of world that we live in, we really want to control who goes in and out of our schools."