Hamilton County School officials said a new visitor monitoring system is the latest effort to keep children safe in school. The system from Raptor Technologies was installed this week at East Hamilton Middle and High School, East Side Elementary, the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences Lower School, and Westview Elementary. All schools in Hamilton County Public Schools are scheduled to have the program active by the end of April.
Officials said, "The Raptor system runs an instant screening of visitors to schools to ensure those coming into the buildings are allowed to be there when our children are in school. The system runs an instant check against the registered sex offender databases in all 50 states. Raptor can also check against custom databases from school and system information to screen issues with custody alerts or banned visitors who should not be on campus. If there is a concern with a person attempting to enter a school, the system can notify security or law enforcement by sending a text message and email to those trained to respond.
"The new visitor monitoring system gives the school an accurate record of every visitor that enters the school each day. The system works with any government issued form of identification including a driver’s license, passport, military ID, or government-issued identification card. The system scans the ID in less than a minute and if approved will print a nametag with a photo, date of visit, and destination in the school. Visitors may use an alternate ID if they do not have a government-issued ID. Hamilton County Public Schools and the Raptor system do not share the information gathered in the security process outside of the public safety community charged with keeping our children safe.
"The Raptor visitor monitoring system is a step in the process of ensuring schools are safe learning environments for children. The district is also evaluating controlled access doors, a security enhancement that will require visitors to be viewed on camera to make sure the situation is safe before allowing the person to enter the school. The added door security will be a priority for installation in schools over the summer months with plans for the enhanced security to be in place for the 2018-2019 school year."