The Pali cafeteria is now requiring that students present physical ID cards in order to purchase food. However, the outside lines will continue to allow non-physical methods of scanning for meals.
The protocol went into effect in April. Previously, students were allowed to use pictures of IDs or their personal Infinite Campus identification as an alternative to their physical card to obtain any meal from the cafeteria.
Before the transition to the new requirement, the cafeteria was the only place on campus that did not require physical IDs.
Cafeteria clerk Delilah Brown said the cafeteria staff agreed on a new requirement to mandate physical IDs such that their policies align with the rest of Pali.
“It was actually a courtesy that we let [students] use their phone since everywhere else on campus [requires] your ID,” Brown said.
Pali security guard and basketball coach Erick Navarro said without the requirement, some students would use their friends’ infinite campus identification along with their own to get extra food for nutrition and lunch.
“[The new requirement is] to make sure that everybody has the proper ID and is identified correctly, ” Navarro said.
According to sophomore Brynn Santos, the new cafeteria mandate led to some issues regarding the speed of the lunch and nutrition line. She explained students are forgetting their IDs at home and are forgetting to take their IDs out of their backpacks, causing delays.
“I don’t think this change is doing what they mean to do,” Santos said. “Encouraging students to have their IDs on them is really just making the cafeteria less appealing and a way less convenient option.”
Sophomore Noah Hahn added that he no longer sees as many students getting food from the cafeteria. He said people have started to bring their own lunch from home because they do not always have their physical ID on them.
However, Hahn said that students are now adjusted to this rule, the lines have been faster than in the past.
“[The lunch line] kind of balanced out and honestly now that the cafeteria requires physical IDs, the line has gone pretty much faster than normal,” Hahn said.
