Engadget ran a post about the implementation of iris scanning for New Jersey grade school to the tune of $369,000.

The platform provides entry-access controls, visitor management and the capability to scan a driver’s license from 50 states and automatically import the information into the database.

The system takes a digital photograph of the iris, the color portion of the eye, each time a parent, teach or administrative and school employee gains access to the school. “The algorithm can map out up to 242 unique points in the iris,” Bolling said. “A good fingerprint patch is anywhere from seven to 22 points.”

So the obvious question here is, WTF? Is this really necessary? It is on par with the prioritized Homeland Security spending where such high risk locales like West Virgina receive six times the funding per capita as New York. Someone please tell me why an elementary school needs biometric security especially in a state that does not have nearly the same levels of violent crime as Tennessee or the nation’s capital?

It boggles the mind but proves that I am in the wrong business.