• Raptor Header with photo

  • NEW VISITOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

    Who is visiting your child’s school?
    We take our responsibility to keep students safe very seriously, which is why we must know who is in our school buildings during the school day. In the interest of student and staff safety, Harrisonville Schools will roll out a new visitor management system in all schools and buildings on Monday, April 22.

    Currently, when a guest visits a Harrisonville school, they show photo identification and sign in and out on a paper log. Moving forward, we will use the Raptor Visitor Management system to scan the visitor’s photo ID. The program will check visitors against the sex offender registry and beginning next year, our own Student Information System. It will also print a visitor badge with the visitor’s name on it to wear while they are in a school during school hours.

    We understand this may cause some brief inconvenience for guests when visiting our schools, but the time it takes to show ID and receive a visitor badge should be about the same as signing in on a paper log. By working together we can meet our goal to increase safety and security for students and staff.

    Why do we need this in our schools?
    The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority.  We currently have buzz-in entries at all of our schools and require visitors to show a photo ID.  This new system allows for an additional layer of protection and safety for our students and staff.

    How does it work?
    The visitor identification system enhances safety by reading visitor driver’s licenses and then quickly printing a visitor badge that can include the name of the visitor, time, date, destination and purpose of visit. Identification includes all state-issued IDs, driver’s licenses, military IDs, a green card, or some other form of government-issued identification that has name and date of birth.

    Raptor scans your name, date of birth and a photo for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders, but it does not check criminal or traffic history. Beginning next year, Raptor will also check our Student Information System to make sure you are permitted to check out a student.  School staff members might also place notifications on your accounts to help keep your contact information current. An example might be a request to update your primary phone number if one is no longer working.

    This also provides a more secure visitor record history and prevents new visitors from seeing the identity of other visitors on the old paper logs.

    Do we have the right to require visitors, even parents, to produce identification before entering the campus?
    Yes, we need to verify who is on campus and know the purpose of their visit. This also helps ensure the visitor is who they say they are. Most importantly, it’s also in the best interest of our visitors, so we will know who is in the building in the event of an emergency.

    What information does Raptor scan and keep?
    Raptor collects and stores your full name, date of birth, last four digits of your license number and photo when your ID is scanned. A copy of the ID is not retained.

    How does Raptor keep my data secure? 
    Raptor uses firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, host integrity monitoring and port filtering, as well as the latest security processes to protect all of its systems and data. All information entered into Raptor gets encrypted using 256-bit AES encryption and uses a nationally-recognized cloud provider. Raptor does not share data with any third parties.

    What happens if I am a registered sex offender but have a child at the school?  
    Upon scanning your ID, administrative staff will be notified so they can meet with you privately.

    Missouri Statute 566.149.1 requires any parent, legal guardian or custodian who is a registered sex offender to request permission to be present on a school campus from the superintendent. If permission is granted, the superintendent or designee must inform the principal of the school where the sex offender will be present. Permission must be granted for each specific event the offender wishes to attend.

    If you have permission for your visit, you will be allowed, with supervision, to continue into the building to contact your child. This supervision will ensure your rights are protected in a controlled environment.

    Do other schools and institutions use a system like this? 
    Yes. Many of surrounding districts use Raptor or similar visitor management systems to help ensure school and student safety.

    What if I have a DUI or parking ticket, will school staff know?
    No. The system does not check those databases, only registered sex offenders.


    What if I don’t have a valid form of ID or don’t want it scanned?  
    If you don’t have a state-issued ID or don’t want your ID scanned, there is still a way for you to get access to our schools and check out students, but you will not be able to enter the school without a staff member with you. You will need to speak directly with school office staff members, who will ask for your legal name, date of birth, relationship to the student and reason for visiting. Office staff will manually confirm your identification, run a background check and make sure you are listed as someone who can check out a student. This may take a few minutes longer than the ID scan to complete.