This article originally appeared on WJHL.com and was written by Curtis McCloud. To view the original article, click here.
CARTER COUNTY, TN (WJHL) In an attempt to make schools safer in Carter County, administrators are using new technology to check visitors against the national sex offender registry. The system used by Carter County schools is called Raptor.
School leaders tell News Channel 11 that parents have to submit their photo I.D. to a receptionist once they enter into a Carter County school. That I.D. is then scanned into the Raptor system and is immediately checked against several criminal data basis.
Rebekah Sells has a 13-year-old son who attends Happy Valley Middle School, she supports this security measure.
With all the school shootings and everything going around these days, it’s just good to know that they are taking every precaution,Rebekah Sells said.
Happy Valley Middle School Principal Jon Minton says while the Raptor system was put in place a little over a year ago, it now has the capability to help school administrators ensure that children are being checked out by appropriate people and check for sex offenders.
Safety is the number one priority for the kids and for us here, we try to take just take every level seriously, make sure they are in place so that all the kids stay safe while they are here,Minton said.
The system also prints out temporary photo badges that must be worn by parents at all times while inside school buildings. While the main focus of Raptor is screening for Sex Offenders, school leaders say it can also alert local authorities in the event of a threat or emergency.
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