Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is enhancing security measures across the board with the installation of the Raptor Visitor Management System, a software-based security check-in process used at schools across the country.

Each school within the corporation – Tippecanoe Valley High School, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School, Mentone Elementary and Akron Elementary – are now using the Raptor system in place of paper sign-in sheets.

The Raptor system will perform basic background checks on each visitor to these schools. The background check will scan registered sex offender databases in all 50 states and will also search for any sort of restrictive orders that would prevent someone from being on school grounds or coming in contact with children.

“Our hopes are to have another layer of security for kids and create a safe and secure environment above what is already in place for our schools. Raptor is providing the type of information we wouldn’t have access to otherwise,” said Jon Hutton, assistant principal at TVHS.

Visitors who have not yet checked in through the Raptor system must first do so through the secretary in each building’s main office. The secretary will take the visitor’s state-issued identification card, a driver’s license for example, and scan it. A basic background check will then be performed. If the check clears, a stick-on badge will print for the visitor.

The next time that person visits a school, he or she will only have to scan their driver’s license at the front kiosk instead of with the secretary, and indicate on the computer a reason for entering the school. If the background check clears, the system will again automatically print a badge. Any visit in the future will follow this same process.

If a visitor’s background check does not clear, the system will automatically send an alert to a school administrator. The administrator will meet with the visitor to address the issue and decide whether or not to allow the visitor to enter the building.

Once a person’s visit is complete, he or she will check out through the Raptor system by scanning their driver’s license again at the kiosk in the school’s main office. A badge will be printed for each future visit and the same badge cannot be used for multiple visits.

“The ink on the badge is actually temporary and will begin to fade after about eight hours,” said Hutton.

The Raptor system is for day visits only and does not take the place of the extended background check for people going on fieldtrips or working with children in an unsupervised capacity.

“Any adult who is going on field trips off school grounds will still need to complete the background check that has been a part of our corporation policy for the last several years,” said Hutton.

People attending large events during the school day are encouraged to come in beforehand for the initial check-in, so all he or she would have to do the day of the event is walk in and scan their driver’s license.

“It’s all about the safety of the kids and the teachers. It really is,” said Keith Lang, director of technology for the school corporation.

According to the Raptor Technologies’ website, the system has identified and alerted officials to more than 50,000 sex offenders attempting to enter schools and has issued more than 250,000 custody alerts. A safety and security matching grant paid for part of the Raptor system implementation at Tippecanoe Valley.