School security improves

Palm Coast Observer
News

On Monday, Nov. 14, Flagler Schools increased the safety of their students and staff, by adding the Raptor Visitor Management System, to their visitor screening process. In the past, visitors would simply show their license and gain admittance.

“We are trying to elevate our level of safety for the schools,” said School Safety Consultant Winnie Oden, “In the past we knew, maybe, who was in our schools, but maybe not, because we had no consistent way of running ID.”

Visitors, with the exception of school personnel and volunteers with school IDs, will now have their driver’s license scanned before being issued a visitor’s badge. Official volunteers are required to provide their fingerprints, and go through a background check, prior to being issued a school-based ID.

While most parents might understand, and appreciate, the added security for their children, it’s understandable to wonder what information is coming up on the computer screen.

“We are seeing your name, part of your driver’s license number, and birth date,” Maria McGovern, district technology coordinator, said. “You are giving more information when you go to Target, or swipe your card at the gas station, than we get.”

The scan is focused on identifying registered child predators and sex offenders.

“Every time a name is added to the data base, the system is updated,” Oden said.

The system also has a customized alert feature, which will allow the school to enter legal notifications, such as restraining orders, or child custody restrictions, submitted by the parents to the school.

Parents dropping off permission slips, or forgotten lunches, can still just leave them at the front desk with no check-in required. Those attending an event before or after school, will most likely be escorted to the area where the event is to be conducted, and may not have their license scanned.

“It will be up to administrator, whether they want to use it for early morning, or after school activities,” Community Information Specialist Jason Wheeler said. “With that many people, the adults are funneled to the cafetorium and are segregated in one area. They are not going to be roaming around the school.”

Each school has an independent system.

“They don’t “talk” to each other,” Oden said. “So if you have children at more than one school, you will be asked for ID at each, even if you were at another school that day. We are in an adjustment period, but at some point we want you to get the same response from each school. If it’s going to be effective, it needs to be consistent.”

There are times when a false positive could occur, such as instances where individuals have the same name, and even the same birthday. The driver’s license photo that appears on the screen will generally identify which of the individuals is standing before the receptionist. If there is any doubt, the receptionists will ask the person to have a seat, while an administrator is called.

“We do not want to embarrass anyone,” Oden said. “The administrator is called and you can have a private conversation,” Oden said.

If someone doesn’t want to give their ID, it’s not a problem, but they won’t be admitted into the classroom areas.

“For the most part we are getting a good response so far.” Oden said. “The parents understand why we are doing it.”

The information is basic, and specific. There are no social security numbers, no citizenship identification, or any other personal information. When a person does not have U.S. identification, such as those who live in the U.S. only part of the year, a passport will be accepted.

The information is erased, school-wide, at the end of the day. A secured server, off site, maintains the data.

The brightly colored visitor name tags, used before the Raptor system, were rarely returned to the front desk, when the visitor left the school. With the Raptor system, visitors will be asked, upon departure, to return their name tag, and the fact the visitor has left campus will be noted in the system.

“To be effective, not only do you need to know who is coming in, but you should be able to know who has left your building,” Oden said. “It also lets administrator know who is on campus.”

Oden first learned of the system, being used across the country, at a Florida Association of School Resource Officers conference in Orlando. The $15,000 cost, equipped all nine schools in the district, and the access to the website. The maintenance cost, to update the data base, is approximately $200 per school, per year.

“It is important for parents to know, we are not refusing access,” Oden said. “But if someone comes up as a hit, there’s an additional responsibility to the administrator, because there may be a legitimate and specific reason for that person to be on the campus. That is the administrator’s decision.”

There are no exceptions. Even if someone is known to the receptionist, but does not have their Flagler School identification, their license will be scanned.

“It’s a slippery slope if you begin to say, “This is ok,” because then, there’s not a consistency across the district,” Oden said.

“Give us a couple of weeks to get everything cleared out, and it should be a clear transition,” Wheeler, said. “We are trying to protect our assets, which are the children.”