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Hermantown Elementary School Adds Visitor ID System to Increase School Security

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This article originally appeared on WDIO.com and was written by Taylor Holt.


Hermantown, MN – Hermantown Elementary School Principal, Deb Reynolds says safety is a top priority at their school of more than 700 students.

“Our doors are locked throughout the day. The only entrance is through the front door,” said Reynolds.

Now, a new identification system is the latest effort in increasing security.

“What we were doing is they (visitors) would sign in and we would give them a visitor’s pass and they could go into the school. So now with this new Raptor system, it actually requires that they show us their driver’s license,” said Reynolds.

The Raptor Visitor Management System scans the name, age and photo on that state-issued ID that will go through a National Database for Registered Sex Offenders.

“Everybody that enters the school, any kind of visitor or construction people, no matter who it is will now be scanned,” Reynolds added.”This is just another layer of security for our kids.”

Once entry is approved, a badge is printed for that visitor. Reynolds says the scan is a one-time process but will be updated periodically. As for any additional information from the license – that will be left out.

“It’s not necessarily criminal charges from vehicles situations. It’s mainly just the sex offender program that we’re looking at,”she said.

Officials say this extra step is all about being pro-active.

“We’ve never really had issues with safety at our school, but we don’t want there to be any and so we take all precautions,” said Reynolds.

As of Thursday, the elementary school has started using the system. Hermantown Middle School and High School have it as well.