We I.D. for School Safety

Schools Will Ask Visitors for Photo Identification to Improve School Safety

The Sun Prairie Area School District adopted a new policy that will go into effect at the beginning of the school year. The policy requires all visitors to the schools to show a photo I.D. and register in the welcome centers/offices prior to entering the main areas of the school or the classrooms. The new policy will increase school safety and help the school staff account for all visitors to the schools.  The term all visitors applies to parents, volunteers, service personnel, and anyone entering the schools who is not employed there. The policy addresses a concern that parents and staff have expressed in the past, said District Administrator Tim Culver. We welcome our parents and volunteers.  We welcome all of our visitors.  We just need a better system of knowing who is in our buildings at any given time and the purpose of their visit. The new policy will be especially helpful at the elementary schools that do not have separate entry areas for visitors as newer schools do.  In the five older elementary schools, a staff member will greet visitors as they walk in the door. Visitors will be greeted as they enter the building, said Culver. Our staff will ask them for a photo I.D., sign them in, and direct them to where they're going.  Having a person visible in the entry to those elementary schools also provides security against possible child offenders.  Research shows that having an adult at the entry to a school can deter offenders, said Culver.  Seeing an adult face poses an immediate deterrent to offenders and they will almost always leave a school. The school district is calling the areas that visitors sign in the Welcome Centers.  In the elementary schools without a separate entry area, the Welcome Center will be a person sitting at a kiosk in the entryway. For the other schools, the offices will be designated the Welcome Centers. In addition to the security that this policy offers, it also gives us an opportunity to provide customer service to those who are visiting our schools, said Culver.  Designating the office as a Welcome Center provides consistency throughout the district and more accurately reflects what we're doing in those areas.  We're greeting people, students, parents, and visitors and assisting them.