Not many students have wondered where their money goes when paying off I.D debt, however freshman Zach Allen was surprised when he found out.

“It seems like they could use the money for better use,” said Allen when told the money goes to making and maintaining the I.D machine.

The machine, located in South, requires upkeep. The money that you are charged when you forget or need to replace your I.D goes to maintaining the machine and getting the material to make the lost and new I.D’s.

While regular I.D’s only cost five dollars to replace, it costs fifteen dollars to replace I.D’s connected with metro transit cards. At the beginning of the year, each student (who lives outside of South’s 2 mile walking zone) recieved an unlimited public transportation card. On that card combined with the I.D there is a microchip that scans whenever you use the lightrail or bus. The card is valid Monday-Sunday, 5 am to 10 pm.

“For each card that we use to “replace” a lost/stolen/damaged card, the school has to pay $10.  South High charges $5 for the printing of the ID. If students come in before school or during lunch, they receive their new card the same day and we shut off their old card,” said  Kelly Montes, head of South’s Check&Connect office.

The dollar that gets paid when forgetting your I.D may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way.