New Visitor Management System to be Implemented at Michigan District
Bay City Public Schools will begin using a new visitor management system next month.
- By Jessica Davis
- March 20, 2019
Bay City Public Schools will be implementing the formal visitor management system known as Raptor on Monday, April 8. The system was paid for through a $500,000 Safe and Secure grant awarded by Michigan State Police.
The Raptor system is designed to keep track of visitors, including volunteers and contractors.
“We use it for visitor management, we also use it for volunteer screening and in case of an emergency within the district we can use it to notify who we designate in case of such an emergency,” Bay City Public School Superintendent Stephen Bigelow said. “We’re hoping it’ll assist with some of that congestion in the front office, and help people get moving and on their way. It’s just a much more fast, efficient way.”
Visitors to Bay City Public School campuses will be asked to provide a state-issued ID upon arrival. Visitors who are unable to provide ID will not be allowed to enter the school building.
Visitor information will be entered into the Raptor system. Information will not be shared with outside authorities or agencies.
“What it does is it's running that against the sexual offender database because one of the issues that we’re always watching out for as a school is we need to make sure we’re keeping our kids safe as well, with this constant updated information it’ll alert us if there’s any information we need to be aware of with visitors entering the building,” Bigelow said.
Approved visitors will be given a badge to identify them, the date and the reason for their visit. Visitors must wear these badges at all times during school hours.
Badges are not required for dropping off an item in the office or getting paperwork, visits to campus buildings after school hours or minors accompanied by an adult with a badge.
“I know it’s going to benefit the schools in making us more efficient and hopefully a little more user friendly to parents,” Bigelow said.
About the Author
Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.