This article originally appeared on KGWN Cheyenne and was written by Tiffany Logan. To view the original article, click here.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (KGWN) – State statute says registered sex offenders are not allowed on school district property, and there’s a new software cracking down.
Laramie County School District 1 had two schools test a program called Raptor at the end of the 2015 school year. Dave Bartlett, Assistant Superintendent Support Operations says, “It is a system that has been deployed at about 5,000 school districts across the nation, so it’s actually a common practice outside of Wyoming.”
Jeff Conine is the Principal at McCormick Junior High School. It’s one of the schools that tested the system last year. He says, “We’ve had nothing but positive input from parents. They appreciate the added level of security for their kids. It’s just another level of comfort knowing that we’re adding that one more feature of security in schools.”
Conine says the database updates weekly, keeping people who have checked in through the school up to date. Some other security features in Raptor include private alerts. The school can put an alert on a person if for some reason they are not allowed on campus. There’s also an emergency button that the Secretary can activate if needed.
On top of security, Conine says there’s also a convenience factor, “At any point of the day, I can turn on my computer in my office and see who’s in my building.”
The process is relatively simple. Your identification is entered into a scanner, it is run through a database, and then you have a pass printed out allowing you access inside the school. Any government issued ID works. School policy states if you do not have an ID you may still wait for your child in the lobby. However, you won’t be granted access further inside the school.
