Norwalk Public Schools is pleased to announce that we will
begin using the Raptor Visitor Management System across all NPS schools within
the 2017-2018 school year. Raptor is a web-based software application that
provides an effective and efficient manner in which to track visitors in and
out of the schools, helping to increase protection for our staff and our
students.
The system allows schools to electronically check all
visitors against registered sexual offender databases, produce visitor badges,
and monitor visitor hours. Previously, those visiting schools were asked to
sign in via a paper-based log at the front office, and were then provided with
a badge. With the Raptor system in place, visitors will now present a valid
government issued Identification such as a driver’s license, or state ID, to be
scanned electronically. Each time a visitor, contractor, or volunteer signs in,
or a guardian signs out a student, their name and date of birth are compared
against over 750,000 known sex offenders across all 50 states and several
territories within the United States. Once the ID is scanned, a badge will be
printed within seconds including name, photograph, date, time and
destination/purpose of the visit. Additional information from the ID is not
gathered, nor is the system connected to any other database. Therefore, any
other information connected to the ID card is not part of the system and not
accessible to any of the users.
The safety of our students and staff is of the highest
importance to NPS. Your patience is valued while we continue to refine our
procedures and do all that we can to make our schools welcoming for our
community, while maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students.
If you have any questions regarding the new system, please
contact District School Preparedness Coordinator Joe Rios at riosjo@norwalkps.org.
To learn more about the system, please visit www.raptorware.com. The Raptor system is
currently being used in a variety of Connecticut public schools including
Newtown, New Britain, New Milford, and New Fairfield.