Pittsburgh’s Penn Hills School District is stepping up its campus security efforts with the installation of the Raptor visitor management system. The system will help boost campus security by identifying and badging all visitors to district campuses.

K12 schools around the country are taking increased measures to better ensure the safety and security of their campuses and students. With the ever present concern of active shooter situations and other campus threats, visitor management is being seen a vital first step toward mitigating some of these security risks.

According to a TribLive report, the Penn Hills School District’s technology director identified the Raptor system, launched this month, as a cheaper and more efficient alternative to the previous visitor management system that the district previously had in place.

As with other K12 environments that have chosen similar visitor management systems, the major benefit to campus security is knowing exactly who is campus facilities and when. The Raptor system deployed at Penn Hills campuses will better screen campus visitors, contractors and volunteers that routinely enter school grounds. Visitors will have the same experience when entering school premises, and will continue to provide a valid photo ID as part of the visitor management process.

The system automatically checks the visitor's name and date of birth and then checks against national databases of registered sex offenders. No other data from the visitor’s ID is gathered or recorded, and the information is not shared with any outside agencies. Once entry is approved, the system will issue a temporary badge that identifies the visitor’s name, the date, and purpose of visit.

Visitor to Penn Hills campuses will also have their state-issued ID held at the school security office for the duration of their visit and have it returned once signed out of campus premises. To better lock down campuses, no access will be granted to any visitors that fail to produce an official form of photo ID.

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