ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As school safety protocols are constantly evolving, our state’s largest school district is trying to keep up with the times. 

“The whole goal is not to have one more thing for parents to do. It’s just to make life easier,” said Gabe Jacquez, the Deputy Superintendent of Operations at APS. “We’ve had situations where we have evacuated and had to reunify.”

Albuquerque Public Schools has always had a reunification process for any event, from a gas leak to a shooting, that requires evacuations and parents needing to pick up their students. Families meet at the evacuation location and fill out a form to get their students released to them.

Now, they’re utilizing a new tool.

“It is an identification card that has a barcode that has student information connected to that barcode. When a parent/guardian comes to pick up their student, we would still require an ID to verify the parent. But we would be able to scan that card, and immediately it would pull up the student contact information,” Jacquez said.

Jacquez added they’re always looking at the best ways to make schools safer, especially when things go wrong. This is one way they’re trying to expedite the process and make sure all the information is filled out before anything happens. 

“We are all human and these are our gems. It is the same for us. Those are our students. This is our community, and we are all at those levels. It is a way we can process that and make hopefully make that reunification quicker, as soon as possible,” Jacquez said.

There is also another option for parents or guardians worried about keeping track of the physical card. 

“In the age of technology, you have it on your phone you can show your phone and your ID badge. And we are able to scan that and utilize that,” Jacquez said. 

Each APS student gets two cards for their families. However, you can still choose to fill out the paperwork on-site for reunification.