Kid Account

Southern Bank sponsors student dismissal software
Posted on 09/17/2019
Mel Jackson, Billy Hirtz, Erica Weadon and Dr. Brad Owings.

Southern Bank has agreed to sponsor Kid Account, allowing the R-I district to expand the dismissal system utilized at the Poplar Bluff Middle School to include Lake Road Elementary this year. 

Through Kid Account, authorized caregivers are issued special cards with barcodes that are scanned by staff while students wait indoors until they see their names pop up on a screen during pickup after school. The web-based system also helps manage building visitors throughout the day, providing background checks, and allows secretarial staff to communicate student attendance updates electronically with faculty.  

“We were looking for an opportunity to support the school district and help ensure the safety of the students by making tracking easier for staff,” said Mel Jackson, Southern Bank senior vice president/market president. 

Kid Account was first implemented at the Poplar Bluff Middle School during the 2017/18 school year when Principal Dr. Brad Owings was seeking a dismissal solution that would get the students out of the elements. Owings, who leads one of the largest upper elementary schools in Missouri, met Kid Account President and CEO Keith Petty at a conference. 

In a previous interview with the district, Petty explained that his wife Marsha was an educator and he was in the information technology business. He noticed a “gap in physical accountability for kids” with school officials “dealing with chaos at the end of the day,” so he helped develop the human verification system in 2015 as a subsidiary of Midcom Technologies in Farmington. 

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Cutline: (Left to right) Market President Mel Jackson and Market Retail Manager Billy Hirtz of Southern Bank present a check to Lake Road Principal Erica Weadon and Middle School Principal Dr. Brad Owings on Monday, Sept. 9.

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