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PALM BEACH COUNTY SCHOOLS
ELECTRONIC VISITORS MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM PROCEDURAL GUIDE
Produced by the
Palm Beach County School District Police
Department
Electronic Visitor Management Control Guidelines
2 Introduction
The District standard for an electronic visitor management system is the V-Soft Raptor System (commonly called Raptor), from Raptor Technologies. Raptor is capable of replacing manual paper-based logs, will allow schools and facilities to produce visitor badges, is capable of providing student tardy and hall passes and electronically checks persons against known sexual predator/offender databases. The overall goal is to better control access to any Palm Beach County School District (PBCSD) school/facility; thus providing enhanced protection for our students and staff.
Note: the electronic visitor management system does not replace or meet the requirements for approving vendors, contractors, etc., that may be on site under PBCSD contract or other recognized business operations. These types of individuals must follow the Jessica Lunsford Act procedures that may be found on the District’s main website. They will have a district identification card. The electronic visitor management system is a visitor control system that includes the ability to run limited checks (i.e., sexual predator/offender); it is not a LEVEL 2 clearance system. Please contact School Police at 561-434-8700 for any issues.
Procedure
PBCSD Employees
All PBCSD employees not assigned to the particular school/facility will not need to be scanned into the system. They have been cleared through a Level II screening. The PBCSD receives arrests notifications of PBCSD employees.
o Exception: per Florida Statutes, certified law enforcement officers are exempt and are not to be scanned. Having them sign a log is permissible.
Parents/Guardians of Students at the School/Facility
All parents/guardians attempting to gain access to the school/facility for the first time will present a valid driver’s license (any state) or official state photo identification card (any state) for scanning. A Resident Alien, Temporary Protected Status Cards, U.S. Military Identification card, Foreign Consular card. If the parent/visitor does not have any identification you will manually enter the information into the system and allow it to scan the database. This will not put a picture on the badge. Parents/guardians refusing to produce such ID may be asked to leave the school/site as their identity cannot be verified. School principals and site administrators may allow limited access based on their personal understanding of the situation and/or knowledge of the person in question.
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Such persons, however, shall be manually entered into the system and have their names checked by the sexual offender/predator database. School officials conducting visitor check in and scan processes will verify
scan results and verify the nature of the visit. If the scan is negative and the visit meets school/site criteria, the visitor will be allowed appropriate access after receiving an appropriate visitor’s badge (either one printed from the system or one provided by the school/facility).
If the sexual predator/offender scan comes back with a “hit” a picture on the monitor asking if this is the person (person shows on the list) the following guidelines should be followed:
o Remain calm and ask the person to take a seat, as the schools officials must approve the visit. No need to go into detail or make further explanations. Note: the person may ask for his/her ID back and want to leave – comply with this request!
o Appropriate parties (e.g., School Police, local police and the principal and others) will automatically be notified by e-mail for the problem and will respond. Standby for instructions.
o If the individual becomes agitated or you fear for your safety (or others) follow your normal emergency procedures for summoning assistance (e.g., panic buttons, calling on the radio, etc.).
In the event an identified parent/guardian has a “hit”, he/she may still be granted limited access; this means the person must be closely monitored while on any PBCSD property. In any event, School Police, or local police should be consulted to ensure that other problems are not present (i.e., outstanding arrest warrants, failure to properly register, etc.).
Volunteers
The Raptor system will provide an electronic database of volunteer hours and duties performed by a campus.
Each volunteer will scan their identification into the system on the first visit. On subsequent visits, the volunteer’s name will be located through the quick find screen.
On the first screen, select volunteer. Indicate the job and location.
Print the badge.
4 Vendors/Contractors/Others
Do not need to be scanned as long as the individual is in possession of a PBCSD clearance badge.
Police officers, sheriff’s deputies and child protection investigators, by Florida Statute, have their personal information protected – they are not to have their identification scanned. You are, however, allowed to have them sign in on a log. With their name and organization in order to log their presence.
Other government officials (e.g., health department, fire department, etc.) may object to the scanning of their driver’s licenses. If this is the case, rather than causing an issue, verify their identification and reason for the visit and then manually enter their information into the system. The system will still scan the appropriate databases and will log the visitor in. Military Personnel need to follow the visitor procedures and be scanned
through the RAPTOR system by utilizing the type of identification listed above. They should also have their military identification on them as well.
Alerts
If anyone is going to utilize the alert or notation feature associated with the RAPTOR program the following needs to be followed:
If a notation is being made that may be a surprise to a parent or individual you must notify that person in writing that a notation is being made. These are not court ordered no contact notations.
Examples:
o An individual that causes disturbances on the campus with staff.
Power/Internet Connection Failure
In the event that there is no power or internet service, please use paper logs. The logs should be entered into the system once the power or internet service has been restored.
NOTE: The FDLE Sexual Offender website is:
5 FAQ
Question: Should we scan every visitor into the system? What about PBCSD employees that are coming to our school for legitimate reasons? What about contractors and subcontractors?
You should scan the visitors to the campus. You should always have a record of who is on your campus. This is simply good practice – both from a management standpoint, as well as a security one. PBCSD employees have their fingerprints on file and the school district is notified of any arrests that occur. If a contractor or a sub contractor have a badge issued by PBCSD, they do not have to go through the Raptor system. We get arrest notifications on them as well.
Question: Do we have the right to require visitors, even parents, to produce identification before entering the campus?
You certainly do! As a PBCSD employee, regardless of your status, the security
and safety of our students is most important. You need to be sure of who is on your campus, why they are there and, particularly if a student is involved (e.g., early pickup) – be able to confirm that they are the right individuals to have access to the student! You can only do this by knowing exactly whom you are dealing with.
When you scan the identification keep the identification in plain view of the person so they can see that no other information is obtained.
Question: What if the person refuses to show identification?
Contact the principal or the ranking administrator immediately. They can both question the individual and explain the process to them. The principal or administrator then, based on their knowledge of the person and situation can make a determination whether to allow entry (and manually entering the information into the system) or refusing access to the facility and/or a student.
Question: Do I scan police officers, firemen and other uniformed or similar governmental officials into the system?
Police officers and child protection officers are specifically exempt from scanning since their personal information is protected by state statute. Their organization also gets notified of any arrests. They can sign in on a log. Other Government officials can be scanned; however, if they resist – revert to the manual entry procedure. Always verify their visit!
Question: If a “hit” comes back with a picture indicating that the person just scanned is a sexual predator or offender; do I have reason to fear?
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No! Most sexual predators/offenders, believe it or not, are going to be relatives of
one of your students! And, as the title suggests, if there is a danger, it is to a child – not an adult. Normal caution should always be followed and paying attention to the individual’s demeanor, body language and verbal cues is, as in any situation, the key to your personal safety. If in doubt, always summon help immediately (e.g., panic buttons, a shout, etc.).
Also, remember, your School Resource Officer, the Chief of Palm Beach County School District Police, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department, and several computers in the immediate office area are automatically notified whenever any scan produces a hit. They will be either contacting you or responding.
Behave calmly and normally and ask this individual to take a seat as his request to enter the campus is under review. Let the Schools Police officer and/or the principal handle the situation.
The Officer(s) who responds should remove the individual from the main office area to an office to conduct a more complete investigation of the person’s background.
Question: Will the system produce “false” hits? And, if so, what should I do?
The system, like any computer search system, uses set criteria to lookup, find and match names. Occasionally, names and date-of-births will be similar enough to cause a false hit to occur. There is no need to panic. Carefully examine the picture and other information provided – most times you can quickly verify whether or not the hit actually matches the person in front of you. If in doubt, follow your normal procedures and let the administrator and/or schools police/SRO handle the situation.
The officer(s) should not announce the reason for their arrival when others are present. The Officer(s) who responds should remove the individual from the main office area to an office to conduct a more complete investigation of the person’s background.
Question: Do we have to give listed sexual offenders and predators access to our school?
Generally speaking, unless the individual is wanted by the police, as long as they have a legitimate reason to be on campus (e.g., visiting a legal dependent) you cannot give a blanket “no.” However, such individuals should only be given limited access and should be accompanied at all times by an adult representative of the school. When in doubt, consult with your School Administrator, and School Police.
The Palm Beach County School District in the interest of keeping our children safe, is implementing the V-Soft Raptor visitor management system (commonly called Raptor). Raptor enables schools to produce visitor badges, monitor volunteer hours, and electronically check all visitors against registered sexual offender databases. The overall goal of this system is to increase the safety of our schools.
The Raptor system indicates that you are listed as a registered sex offender. In order to comply with the Palm Beach County School District procedures, we request that you adhere to the following guidelines when visiting your child’s campus:
Allow staff to escort you to and from your destination on campus.
Allow staff to supervise any interactions with students other than your child. Conduct meetings and other business with the campus outside of school
hours, when possible.
Comply with requests from campus leaders and school resource officers. Parent involvement is a key component to student success in school. If you believe this information is inaccurate, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can further investigate. We value your participation in your child’s education and seek to accommodate your involvement in our school.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call Campus Principal or School Resource Officer.
Letter in Spanish
La Palm Beach County School District con la intención de mantener la seguridad de nuestros niños, está implementando el sistema de manejo de visitantes V-Soft Raptor (comúnmente llamado Raptor). Raptor le permite a las escuelas producir tarjetas de identificación para visitantes, monitorear las horas de los
voluntarios y chequear electrónicamente a todos los visitantes contra las bases de datos de agresores sexuales. La meta final de este sistema es el incremento de la seguridad de nuestras escuelas.
El sistema Raptor ha indicado que usted está registrado como un agresor sexual. Para cumplir con los requisitos de la Palm Beach County School District, le pedimos que siga las siguientes pautas cuando esté visitando el predio escolar de su hijo/a:
* Permita que el personal lo acompañe de ida y vuelta hacia su destino en el predio.
* Permita que el personal supervise cualquier interacción con otros estudiantes que no sean su hijo.
* Lleve a cabo reuniones y otros asuntos con la escuela fuera del horario escolar, cuando así lo sea posible.
* Cumpla con los pedidos de los líderes escolares y los oficiales de recursos escolares.
La participación de los padres es un componente clave para el éxito estudiantil en la escuela. Si usted cree que esta información es errónea, por favor contácteme tan pronto sea posible para que podamos investigar más. Valoramos su participación en la educación de su hijo y buscamos acomodar su participación en nuestra escuela.
Si tiene cualquier pregunta o inquietud, por favor llame a Director(a) u Oficial de Recursos de la Escuela.
Letter in Creole
Palm Beach County School District, nan bi pou kenbe timoun nou yo an sekirite, ap mete anplas sistèm pou kontwole vizitè a ki rele V-Soft Raptor (souvan yo rele li Raptor). Raptor a pèmèt lekòl la fè etikèt pou idantifye vizitè yo, siveye lè volontè yo, epi tcheke tout vizitè elektwonikman dapre baz done ki anrejistre kont moun ki komèt krim seksyèl (vyòl). Objektif jeneral sistèm sa a se pou ogmante sekirite nan lekòl yo.
Sistèm Raptor a fè konnen si non ou sou lis kòm moun ki komèt vyòl. Pou konfòme ou avèk pwosedi Palm Beach County School District, nou mande ou pou respekte konsiy ki anba yo lè w al vizite kanpis pitit ou a:
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Kite manm estaf la eskòte w kote w prale nan lekòl la.* Kite manm estaf la sipèvize tout entèaksyon avèk elèv yo eksepte pitit ou a. * Fè reyinyon ak lòt biznis sou kanpis la apre lè lekòl, lè sa posib.
* Respekte demann lidè kanpis la, ansanm avèk polis resous lekòl la. * (nenpòt lòt akomodasyon oswa demann pou paran sa a).
Patisipasyon paran se eleman esansyèl pou siksè elèv nan lekòl. Si w panse enfòmasyon sa a pa presi, tanpri kontakte m rapidman konsa nou kapab mennen plis envestigasyon. Nou apresye patisipasyon ou nan edikasyon pitit ou a epi n ap chèche akomode angajman ou nan lekòl nou an. Si w gen nenpòt kesyon oswa enkyetid , tanpri rele Direktè/tris Lekòl la oswa Polis Resous Lekòl la.
Letter in Portuguese
Com o interesse em manter a segurança de nossas crianças, a escola Palm Beach County School District está implementando o sistema de controle de visitas V-Soft Raptor (usualmente chamado
Raptor). O s i s t e m a Raptor possibilita que as escolas forneçam crachás para os visitantes, monitorem
os horários de trabalho voluntariado e façam uma investigação, via eletrônica, de todos os visitantes com o objetivo de averiguar se estão cadastrados no banco de dados como sex offender (pessoa condenada por crime contra a liberdade sexual). O objetivo comum deste sistema é aumentar a segurança em nossas escolas.
O sistema Raptor indica que o(a) senhor(a) está cadastrado como um sex offender. Com o intuito de cumprir com os procedimentos da Palm Beach County School District, ao visitar o campus da escola de seu filho, é necessário que siga as seguintes diretrizes:
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Permita que um funcionário o(a) acompanhe na ida e volta do local destinado no campus. * Permita que um funcionário supervisione qualquer interação com os alunos, exceto o seu filho. * Atenda às solicitações dos líderes e das autoridades policiais no campus.* Se possível, compareça às reuniões e a outros assuntos de negócios no campus fora do horário de aula. A participação dos pais é o elemento principal para o êxito do aluno na escola. Se o(a) senhor(a) achar que estas informações estão incorretas, favor entrar em contato comigo o mais breve possível para que possamos efetuar uma investigação mais detalhada. Apreciamos sua participação na educação de seu filho e procuramos acomodar sua participação em nossa escola.
Caso o(a) senhor(a) tenha alguma pergunta ou algum motivo de preocupação, solicitamos que ligue para Diretor ou autoridade policial no campus.
