LOWER MERION PA April 11 2019 — Daytime visitors to public schools in Lower Merion will soon see something different when entering any of the district’s buildings: security guards.
At the same time, those visitors also will be subject to a quick computer background check.
In February, the Lower Merion Board of School Directors approved a contract with Advanced Protection Co. to provide security guards at school entrances during the school day.
According to school officials, guards will not be armed, nor would they monitor student behavior or discipline students. As they have in the past, campus aides and recess aides will continue to interact with students.
“The guards will take the burden of visitor screening and badging off of the school secretaries, who have many other duties, especially at busy times such as the beginning and the end of the school day,” according to a press release issued late last week.
The guards will monitor security cameras and register all visitors to the buildings in order to protect against any unauthorized persons from entering the school grounds or buildings.
According to the contract with Advanced Protection Co., one uniformed guard will be present at each of the elementary schools from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the high schools from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at the middle schools from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. They will also have guards at special events as needed.
Along with the new security guards, the district also will begin using Raptor Technologies to check visitors against a database of registered sex offenders and other information, including custody agreements and protection from abuse orders.
Once cleared by the system, the visitor will receive a badge that will include a photo, the date of the visit and the school destination.
If the information allows, the visitor may still be allowed to enter but would be escorted through the building at the discretion of the principal.
The Raptor system will also be used to ensure that volunteers have all state-mandated clearances. Once a visitor or volunteer’s identification is in the system, they will only need to give their name for later visits.
According to information the district has provided on the new Raptor system, the system checks drivers’ license information that is compared to a database of registered sex offenders in all 50 states.
The Raptor system will only be used to scan the name, date of birth and a partial license number and a photo for comparison with the database of sex offenders of the visitors.
If the visitor does not have any photo identification or refuses to show one, a building administrator will be contacted to question the person. The administrator can then make a determination to allow or refuse access to the building or to a student.
The contract with Advanced Protection is for $342,160, and the subscription service for the Raptor system will cost $17,250.
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