Student safety in K-12 schools isn’t as easy to achieve as it was years ago. Creating a safe environment that supports healthy learning and development requires a comprehensive plan that accounts for potential outside threats. Innovative visitor management technology makes this possible by allowing schools to screen guests before they enter and locate them while they’re on campus.
While the majority of visitors to your campus come with the best intentions, it can still be challenging for teachers and administrators to fully know a guest’s true purpose during their visit. Even parents can pose a threat in certain situations. That’s why learning from real-life scenarios is so important.
Here are three examples of sensitive situations involving guests and how a visitor management system led to a positive outcome.
A Once Welcome, Now Unwelcome Visitor
Here is an example based on real events, though names have been changed to protect privacy. Chorley High School had a busy spring calendar. Students were gearing up for the annual talent show, a spring fundraiser, and a field day. They were encouraged to invite family and friends to each event.
Earlier that year, the school implemented the CENTEGIX Visitor Management system as part of the district’s new campus safety program. This technology screens for sex offenders and alerts the school if a student is involved in a child custody issue. All visitors have to do is simply scan their driver’s license.
On the day of the talent show, guests entered the school through the main entrance and scanned their driver’s licenses. Samantha, the mother of one of the students, invited her boyfriend, David, to the performance. When David scanned his license, the system flagged him as a registered sex offender. He was denied entrance and asked to leave the school grounds.
This came as a shock to many people, as David was well known in the tightly knit community. His family had a good reputation, and nobody would’ve thought twice about seeing him at a school event.
It turns out that he committed his offense last year, and his family made it a point to keep it quiet. He was only recently added to the sex offender registry, which meant his crime was virtually unknown to the community.
But that’s not the end of the story. David once again accompanied Samatha to an event at Chorley High School––the spring fundraiser. They both felt it was ridiculous for the school to pass judgment when they knew nothing about David’s offense. However, the visitor management technology flagged him again, and the principal informed him that he wasn’t permitted on the school grounds.
The situation escalated when David showed up a third time to attend the field day. The system flagged him again as he attempted to enter the school. This time, the School Resource Officer (SRO) was brought in to intervene. Because the system confirmed three attempts to enter the school, David was charged with three separate violations.
There’s a good chance David would have been permitted to attend the events at Chorley High School if CENTEGIX Visitor Management had not been in place. The system’s customized databases make it easy for schools to identify registered sex offenders, fired school employees, expelled or unpermitted students, parents, and individuals whose presence may pose a concern based on prior incidents or safety considerations. Data is updated in real time, so databases remain current.
Safeguarding Students Involved in Custody Battles
Another function of CENTEGIX Visitor Management involves authorizing student check-outs. The system provides peace of mind to parents and school administrators by sending out alerts when someone tries to check out a student who’s the subject of a legal custody battle. This came in handy for a grandmother who was doing everything she could to protect her grandson. The following story is based on real events, though names have been changed to protect privacy.
Peter is a sixth-grade student. His parents recently divorced and are currently engaged in a tumultuous custody battle. Peter’s grandmother, Mia, has been helping out by taking care of Peter and providing the stability he needs at such a young age.
Due to the volatile nature of the court case, only a few authorized guardians are permitted to pick Peter up from school. This caused a lot of anxiety for Mia, as she knew that custody battles can sometimes result in parental kidnappings. The thought of this happening to Peter terrified her.
Mia had been scheduled to pick Peter up from school for the first time. When she arrived at Victorville Elementary, she entered Peter’s name into the school’s visitor management system. This alerted the administrative staff of the custody issue and informed them that Mia had been authorized to pick Peter up. Mia was overjoyed. She repeatedly thanked the school secretary for ensuring that only the designated people were able to check Peter out of school.
Accounting for All Visitors During Emergencies
Out of an abundance of caution, schools today are using lockdown protocols more often than they were a decade ago. One study found that approximately 23% of teachers experienced a lockdown due to a gun or suspicion of a gun on campus during the 2022-23 school year. However, gun violence isn’t the only reason schools need lockdown procedures. They also serve as a reliable safety precaution during severe weather, bomb threats, and criminal activity in the surrounding area.
Schools are responsible for developing comprehensive safety plans so teachers and students know how to react in the event of a lockdown. For post-event reunification, these plans often involve safely exiting the school and moving to designated areas so administrators can account for all students and staff.
Let’s examine how students and staff of Kingsway High School handled a tense situation.
It was a typical day when a school-wide lockdown was initiated suddenly. After lockdown had been cleared, everyone in the building made their way outside and gathered in the designated meeting areas.
The school’s principal arrived outside, anxious to determine the location of all students, staff, and visitors. He accessed the school’s manager portal on his phone and quickly determined which visitors were still inside the school and their exact locations. This was possible due to each visitor’s check-in process when they arrived and the CENTEGIX Enhanced Visitor Management Badges they were wearing.
The principal immediately asked a staff member to proceed to the areas where visitors were located and ask them to exit the building. He was amazed at how easy it was to locate people inside the school via the manager portal. The lockdown and reunification ended without incident, and the principal came away from the experience with the peace of mind that his school has the support it needs in an emergency.
Equip Your School With an Innovative Visitor Management System
These three scenarios demonstrate how the CENTEGIX Visitor Management system helps schools keep students and staff safe from outside threats and respond when incidents occur. The system is also beneficial for day-to-day operations. If your school has regular visitors, it helps administrators know which guests to expect and which areas they’re permitted to access.
The Enhanced Visitor Management feature works with real-time digital mapping to provide the precise location of each visitor on your campus. With CENTEGIX Visitor Badges, you can locate each guest at a glance. This level of awareness provides peace of mind and confidence so your staff can perform their jobs to the best of their abilities.
Data derived from the system provides insight into visitor activity. This information helps you create visitor policies, audit the amount of time contractors spend on a job, and develop informed safety plans.
Learn more about the CENTEGIX Visitor Management system and take the first step toward a safer school.
