The Principal of the school told her that is was a mistake of "good intentions".  They assumed that the failure to return the permission slip was just an oversight by parents and since the PTA was paying for the cards, they went ahead processed all of the children. 
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Following Chmelik's complaint, the Principal, C. Stefani, sent a letter home with the children explaining what happened. 

From the letter:

"The District is currently awaiting the return of all the pictures and information that was sent to Ident-A-Kid". 

Think about this - Ident-A-Kid is a franchise operation.  Anybody can buy a franchise.  John Wayne Gacy could have bought a franchise.  And why do they need to send the information off campus?   The whole ID card could have been produced on site.  And just because they say they delete the information after 60 days - doesn't mean that copies of the information aren't made and sent elsewhere.  And - without question - there is a market for this information that would be worth a lot more money than the $5.00 or $6.00 per card fees.  Is it any wonder that they produce the card for free to parents and the schools?
 

Letter to the Editor published in the Idaho County Free Press - 4/24/2007

Problem with identification event at GEMS

"All parents have the right to know what took place at Grangeville Elementary School recently. The GEMS PTA arranged for an agent affiliated with the National Ident-A-Kid program to come into the school in order to produce ID cards for the students which entailed obtaining the child's photo, fingerprints and personal information. Did parents know that this was not an organization with a legitimate board of directors, but rather, a privately owned franchise and the "agent" taking your child's information is not a nationally recognized provider to obtain fingerprints? To make matters worse, some children were fingerprinted and photographed without parental consent? Authorizations were sent home to the parents; however, on the day in question, if your child did not have written authorization from a parent, it was "assumed" that you, the parent, "forgot" to sign the form (that is the explanation I was given).

   Also of interest, I was told by the principal, Charles Stefani, that PTA scholarship funding was provided so that no child would be excluded from receiving a card. The PTA, however, gave a different version of the same; stating that a private benefactor paid for all the children. Both explanations are suspect and raise considerable suspicions to me. If you have the money, are you the one to decide what is best for everyone; such as having unauthorized individuals fingerprint the children without parental consent? Simply put, the service was paid for so it didn't matter if the parent agreed to it or not.

   The facts are clear: (1) Parental authorization was blatantly disregarded in lieu of payment; (2) A private citizen obtained personal identification on your child and left the school premises with such, without the knowledge of school officials (Mr. Charles Stefani, principal, and Dr. Wayne Davis, superintendent). Neither Mr. Stefani, nor Dr. Davis could answer my specific questions. Therefore, I will personally see to it Mr. Stefani and Dr. Davis, that you are fully informed with regard to the legal ramifications of letting such an event take place on school property without my consent."
   Julie Chmelik
   Grangeville

Ident-A-Kid

Ident-A-Kid is a franchise business that was started in 1987.  Some of their advertisements say they don't keep any data on a computer.  Other advertisements say they delete the information after 60 days. 

A Missouri Ident-A-Kid franchiser provided this information:

Principals, Center Directors, and Parent Organization Representatives: contact me today to choose a date for your school. Click on identakid-stl@sbcglobal.net for questions or to check availability.  The program is offered at no cost to the school!  Rapid response is crucial when a child is missing.  Most parents don't find the time to collect physical data on their child.  Our digital processing does this for them, We're able to get kids in and out more rapidly than "the picture people."  Together we can empower parents to protect their children!

National PTA member schools:  The Ident-A-Kid program meets 1 of your 3 service requirements for the year.

Ident-A-Kid cards are accepted by Canadian and Mexican border authorities.

"The Child Project"

Excerpts from the Child Project website:

The CHILD Project will establish the national database by providing easy-to-use iris recognition cameras to law enforcement and social service agencies throughout the country. The units will have 7/24 web-based access to the main database located at NMCO's headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona through a secure network connection and strict security.

The CHILD Project will complement and enhance fingerprinting and photo identification programs now in place across the nation. The CHILD Project will significantly improve these programs by capturing and storing a unique numeric identifier based on a digital photograph of the individual's iris, along with pertinent demographic information. The iris recognition equipment is very portable and simple to use, making it ideal for use at remote locations such as fairs and special events.

NMCO is a member of the Association for Missing & Exploited Children's Organizations (AMECO) working with over 30 other agencies in the United States and Canada dedicated to providing victim assistance and education. Kym Pasqualini, the founder, President and CEO of NMCO, is a member of the AMECO Board of Directors and is also serving as Chairman of the Government Relations Committee and member of the Ethics Committee.

In an effort to improve it's capabilities to identify and locate missing children, the Nation's Missing Children Organization (NMCO) has formed a unique alliance with The CHILD Project, LLC to create and implement the CHILD Project. The Children's Identification and Location Database is a nationwide network and registry, utilizing iris recognition biometric technology provided and supported by The CHILD Project, to quickly and positively identify missing children.

The CHILD Project is a collaborative effort between the Nation's Missing Children Organization (NMCO) and The CHILD Project to create a nationwide Children's Identification and Location Database, which utilizes iris recognition biometric technology.

More research reveals:

From The Point Group's website:

"In an effort to further the likelihood of identifying and locating missing children, the Nation's Missing Children Organization (NMCO) and The Point Group companies, Inc. (TPG) have created the CHILD Project. The Children's Identification and Location Database is a nationwide network and registry, which utilizes iris recognition biometric technology provided and supported by TPG to identify missing children."

Iris recognition is based on the most mathematically unique biometric - the iris of the eye. The human iris is absolutely unique, even between twins or an individual's right and left eyes. The iris itself is stable throughout a person's life (approximately from the age of one). The physical characteristics of the iris do not change with age. Iris recognition biometric technology positively determines the identity of an individual by capturing a high resolution digital photograph of the individual's iris. The unique features contained in the iris are compared against a database and the identity of the individual determined.

"The Child Project"

It's very clever to have the National Missing Children's Organization (NMCO) build a national database of information on children because the impression is that the database contains only the information on missing children.  Implicit in the FAQs is that the computer system they are building must contain the data on all children in order for it to work as advertised.  Furthermore, a security system that reads the eyes of children must be implemented in all schools and places where children receive social services in order for the system to work as a tool to identify missing children.  The NMCO is playing on the fears of parents to protect their children - getting them to voluntarily sign their children up for a lifetime of police state monitoring and control. 

Another key piece of information that they are withholding from parents is that "Real ID" and police state monitoring is an international agenda - not just a national agenda. 

Fingerprinting of children in the UK

Identity Cards - "Show us your papers!"

G-8 Countries Urge Use of Biometrics in Fight Against Terrorism

Big Brother Going Global

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The Dutch government will begin tracking every citizen from cradle to grave in a single database, opening a personal electronic dossier for every child at birth with health and family data, and eventually adding school and police records.

Great Britain - Big Brother database to record the lives of all children. 

The home life of every child in the country is to be recorded on a national database in the ultimate intrusion of the nanny state, it has emerged.  Computer records holding details of school performance, diet and even whether their parents provide a 'positive role model' for 12 million children will be held by the Government.

Child database 'will erode parents' rights,' say campaigners
Plan to keep file on every child

Australia - Big Brother to Watch the Movie of Our Lives

Japan - Minister defends Japanese "Big Brother" idenity database as hackerproof

China - Database ensures that Big Brother is Watching in China

Singapore - "Fighting Terrorism"

United States - Cradle-to-Grave Management and Control system

THE REAL ID CARD - IMPECCABLE TIMING
The Real Purpose of the Real ID

U.N. Official Praises Microsoft Employees for Helping Refugee

Volunteers replaced the cumbersome pen-and-paper process for refugee registration with a portable computer system for creating identity cards and reuniting families.