DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A new security system is now online at all 35 schools in the Douglas County school system. The system check's each visitor's background in a matter of seconds.
Visitors can be flagged, for example, if they're a registered sex offender, don't have custody of a child, or are a contractor attempting to enter the school without prior approval.
"This allows me to have the assurance that the people traveling in my building belong here to support children," Kenja Parks, principal of Factory Shoals Elementary said. "So when I see the badge I know it means they have already been cleared."
Parks said at district schools, front office staff already needed to buzz in guests during school hours as building doors remain locked. Now, they also have each guest enter the main office where a computer is set-up for them to check-in.
Guests scan their driver's license or other ID, list the reason for and destination of their visit and their picture is taken by the computer. If approved a visitor badge with their name and picture is printed.
If not they're held in the office and staff is notified.
"There will be a notification on the screen saying please see an office attendant," Parks said. "The office attendant will come over, an administrator will be summoned and a private conversation will be had that will either determine if you can go further with your visit or if you're required to wait right here in the office."
The system notifies both school officials and also law enforcement if selected by the school, for instances such as sex offenders or other unapproved guests.
Parks said it gives staff more information than ever before, right away and allows them to efficiently clear long lines of visitors.
"This is a quicker way," Parks mentioned while previewing the system. "Once they get the badge they're good to go."
The Douglas County School System used a federal grant to purchase the technology from a company called Raptor Technologies. Placing a check-in system in each of Douglas County's 35 schools totaled more than $150,000.
It is the latest security change for the district.
In 2019, about a year after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Governor Brian Kemp signed legislation giving each Georgia school district approximately $30,000 per school to spend on safety improvements.
In addition to the new check-in system purchased with federal funds, Douglas County spent its state funding to upgrade lighting, security cameras and bought a system called Centegix Crisis Alert System.
With Centegix, each employee in the building wears a badge with a button. By pressing the button, a certain amount of times a corresponding alert is sent to school leaders and even local law enforcement.
The alert can range from a student needing medical help to a violent situation such as an active shooter in the building.
"This is really a comforting level of security for our teachers and staff, so if there is ever a crisis they have the ability to alert us, right away," Parks said.
A school's principal, other administrators and law enforcement also have access to a smartphone app that then displays a detailed map of the school building and pinpoint of where the alert signal was sent from.
Forsyth County School also began using the Raptor Technologies check-in system during the fall semester of 2019. Gwinnett and Fulton County school districts used portions of each school's $30,000 in state safety funding to also purchase the same system.
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