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School Lunchrooms Take Digital Twists and Turns

New Cafeteria Gadgets Designed to Streamline the Payment Process

Some of the same technologies that allow adults to access their bank accounts and enter secure buildings are now being used to collect school lunch money and track students’ eating habits.

A growing number of cafeterias are installing computerized cash-register systems that let students pay for school meals using personal identification numbers, school badges, and even scanned images of their fingerprints.

The lunchroom uses of those technologies are proving to be a sweet deal for many food-service employees, who say that the new approaches have helped them cut administrative costs and increase student enrollment in the federal...