As news of school shootings continues to dominate national headlines, local officials are taking steps to ensure that area schools, churches and businesses are safe.
Last month, soon after 17 students and teachers were gunned down in Parkland, Fla., Hamilton County Schools announced its plan to beef up security throughout the district by installing a new visitor monitoring system in each of its 79 schools by May 1.
Prudence Giles of Westview Elementary scans the driver’s license of visitor Carmen Penney using the school’s new visitor monitoring system from Raptor Technologies. (Contributed photo)Created by Raptor Technologies, the web-based check-in system runs each visitor’s ID through registered sex offender databases. The system also scans against a customized database to prevent banned individuals or those with custody issues from gaining access.
Among the first schools to see the system implemented on their campuses were East Hamilton Middle/High School, Westview Elementary, East Side Elementary and Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences’ Lower School.
“This adds another layer of security,” said Eddie Gravitte, assistant principal at East Hamilton Middle/High. “It’s providing a better way for us to keep track of comings and goings in the building.”