Several Calif. School Districts Adopt Visitor Management System

The system runs visitor information through all 50 states' sex offender databases.
Published: July 7, 2016

Three school districts in Orange County, California have invested in a new visitor management system that scans visitor IDs before approving access into buildings.

The Santa Ana Unified School District, the Anaheim Elementary School District and the Irvine Unified School District have all installed the technology at some or all of their schools, reports the OC Register.

Under the system, a person enters the school building and gives their driver’s license or other government ID to the desk attendant. The attendant puts the ID into a hand-sized scanner that runs the ID through all 50 states’ databases for registered sex offenders. After an ID has been approved, a printer automatically creates a name badge that includes the time the guest checked in and the guest’s campus destination.

If the system, made by Raptor Technologies, detects a match, an image of the offender is displayed on the attendant’s screen and predetermined school officials or agencies are alerted depending on the district’s policy.

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The system’s value was apparent right away: Nine sex offenders were flagged attempting to enter Santa Ana Unified School District campuses last school year.

RELATED: Mobile Visitor Management Systems Can Improve Efficiency on Campus

The system can also be used to monitor parent custodial situations. If a parent is not allowed to pick up his or her child on certain days or at all, district officials can incorporate that information into the database.

Other districts in the county, including Capistrano Unified and Savanna, are also considering purchasing the system.

Santa Ana Unified School District, the county’s largest district with 57,000 students, paid $81,600 initially to install the system and $28,000 annually.

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