Indian River County now requires public school students to wear school district-issued identification cards on campus and on buses as part of the official dress code, with punishments for non-compliance.

According to school district spokesperson Cristen Maddux, enforcement will begin the second week of school. Students will only be permitted to remove their IDs during physical education classes and athletic activities.

Based upon the district’s code of conduct, punishment will range from an initial verbal warning up to in-school suspension and ineligibility to articipate in extracurricular school activities.

The scannable IDs, which provide GPS tracking, are particularly helpful in enabling school resource officers to identify the youngest pupils.

During an emergency, students could be transported away from the school and IDs serve to get them to the proper place off-site. “It will help us identify where the students belong. We have designated locations in the county,” said Vero Beach Police Department Deputy Chief Matt Monaco whose department covers Rosewood Magnet and Beachland Elementary schools as well as St. Helen Catholic School.

Captain Joseph Abollo of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees most county schools and some charter and private schools including St. Edward’s, said the IDs also enable officers “chasing down a threat” to more easily spot and screen the students wearing them. “It’s a rule and a standard of the school. They have to abide by it.”

Student school IDs were introduced in 2021, but prior to this school year, it was not a violation to go without the ID.

Until now, getting middle and high school students to wear them has been a challenge.

“They’re not on them in the high schools. They are not. I’ve been there several times,” said School Board Vice Chair Peggy Jones. “It is essential that we have that so that we know who we have on campus.”

Schools Superintendent David Moore said he’s visited South Florida schools with “100 percent” compliance. “You guys just approved your code of conduct where they have to have them on them,” Moore told the board. “There is no reason why we cannot” have total compliance, too, he said.