To enter athletic events, students have long been required to show ID—but lax enforcement allowed photos of school IDs or Infinite Campus images at the gate.

Starting with Friday’s football game against Bloomington, Students must show a current-year, physical school ID to enter Community athletic events. Photos, screenshots and Infinite Campus images will not be accepted, administrators said.

Principal Dr. Adam Zbrozek said the change follows a recent rise in altered digital IDs.

Zbrozek said administrators have seen students from other schools superimpose their own photos onto Community students’ IDs or Infinite Campus profiles to match different names.

“It’s really a safety issue,” Zbrozek said. “We want to make sure that everybody who’s coming in is who they say they are, and they’re there for the right reasons.”

The principal said some altered IDs have been used by students from other schools seeking to sit in Community’s student section.

“People want to be part of what’s happening here at NCHS, people who are trying to come from other schools to join our student section,” he said.

Zbrozek said staff “spotted one or two”mismatches at the gate during the first football home game, and “a few more” since. The gateworkers, Zbrozek said, knew the student listed on the ID and “the name and the face didn’t match.”

The update was announced Wednesday morning via email and an Infinite Campus message to families and students. The message told students to visit the IMC as soon as possible if they need an ID; replacements cost $3.

Students who need financial help should contact an assistant principal, according to the notice.

Zbrozek said the move came after discussions with assistant principals, the athletic director and school resource officer Officer Flood.

Physical IDs, Zbrozek said, offer “a better bearing for us to be able to get people in and out.”

Students who don’t yet have an ID should obtain one before arriving at the gate.

“If they work with our front office, we can figure out a way to make sure that they get what they need,” Zbrozek said.

The school will continue pushing reminders through daily announcements, social media and email to families, Zbrozek said.

Additional reporting by Eric Wilken and Brayden Wallace