Newfane Central School District will soon be implementing an additional layer of security at the entrances of school buildings.
The district has put a plan in place to implement the Raptor system, visitor management software, to screen all visitors before they enter any district building during the school day.
“It’s enhancing what we’re doing already,” superintendent Lisa Krueger said. “Safety in our schools is critical and is continuing to grow in importance.”
When a visitor arrives at a school building, they will be required to present their ID, which will be run through the software and screened through the national sex offender database registry.
The date and time of the individual’s visit to the school will also be recorded. All visitors will also be required to wear a printed ID badge while they are in the building.
Krueger noted that the district does not plan to utilize the system for after-school activities such as band concerts or sporting events and visitor IDs will not be run through any other databases.
Increasing school security has been a front and center priority for several school districts, including Newfane, over the past few years.
As one element of the district’s $30.5 million capital project, secure vestibules were installed in all buildings, where a visitor first enters a secured waiting area at the school entrance and then, upon verification by school personnel, is permitted access to the building.
According to Kruger, the district is purchasing the Raptor system technology through BOCES and the cost to implement it in all four buildings is $10,000.
The district will be training school personnel on the new technology in March and it’s anticipated that the system will be fully implemented on April 9 following spring break.
School board president Santo Tomasine said the raptor system adds to the “several different layers” the district has in its buildings.
“It’s a great visitor management system so we know who’s in a building at all times,” Tomasine said. “It’s a bit overdue and we are reassuring the safety of everyone in the district.”
The district’s safety committee, consisting of district personnel and community members, began weighing their options for visitor management software in the beginning of this school year.
“Throughout the summer, we had construction workers, subcontractors and other visitors in all of our buildings, and we didn’t have a procedure in place (to screen them),” Kruger said.
So far, Krueger said, the move has been welcomed by district employees. Formal communication to families will be sent out “in the near future,” she added.
A public forum for district residents to voice their comments and questions will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 6 ahead of the school board meeting.
“We still want (families and visitors) to feel that they are welcomed in the school and realize it may be a change to them,” Kruger said.