LEISD to step up security this year

In a measure aimed at keeping sex offenders out of Little Elm schools, beginning this school year all visitors, including parents, in the Little Elm ISD will be required to present a valid ID card before entering the building.

The district has installed the Raptor Technologies’ V-Soft visitor identification program. This system will identify all visitors to a campus. State law allows public schools to require that all visitors present a picture identification card.

Upon entering a school, a visitor will proceed to a registration desk staffed by a member of that particular school (as selected by the campus principal). The staff member will take the ID (usually a Person’s driver’s license and scan it into the V-Soft system. The ID is compared to the Registered Sexual Offenders (RSO) database, along with any “private alert” information entered by campus administration (such as information pertaining to parental custodial issues).

Once completed, a visitor’s badge will be issued with the person’s name and photo, the day’s date, the time, and the destination within the building for the visit. When the visitor leaves the building, an entry will be made that the person has left the building.

This system will be used at all campus locations and will replace all present systems (ex: Positive Proof). This system will enable the campus principal to gain a better understanding of who is attempting to gain access to the campus, as well as track those visitors and volunteers who routinely visit their campus. Most notably, this system tracks all Registered Sexual Offenders (RSO) in the United States and alerts law enforcement and district/campus administration when and if an offender attempts to gain entry.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there are an estimated 603,000 RSOs in the U.S. Of this number, an estimated 100,000 are unaccounted for and missing. The V-Soft system tracks all RSOs better than any other similar system in existence today. As an example, consider the following situation: Should an RSO live in Colorado and move to another state, assuming the RSO notified Colorado of his/her move, that state, in time, would delete the RSO’s name from their database. That person could then move to Texas, establish a residence without registering as an RSO, and then attempt to gain access into one of the district’s schools.

With Raptor’s V-Soft system, once a person enters their database as an offender, that person is never deleted from the system. In our example, if the RSO attempted to gain access at one of our schools, V-Soft would identify the person as an RSO. Law enforcement would be notified and legal action would be taken.

Parents should access the website http://sheriff.denton-county.com and click on the sex offender information tab. A list will come up with names and addresses pertaining to any known RSOs residing within Denton County. If any of these RSOs should attempt access into LEISD schools, the V-Soft system will identify them. District protocol calls for an administrator, along with a police officer, if present, to speak with the person. If the person has legitimate business in the school, escorted and limited access will be granted.

The district, along with local law enforcement and state certified safety officials, conducted a security audit of LEISD schools in the spring of 2008. The audit recommended systemic improvements designed to bolster the district’s safety and security program.

The motivation behind the move to use this system is to continue to provide a safe and secure environment for students, staff, and community visitors.