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Visitor Check-In System
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As a continued part of a district-wide focus on school security, Grand Prairie Independent School District is implementing a new visitor check-in system called Raptor vSoft (or simply, Raptor). This system is used to help track visitors, students, faculty, contractors and volunteers at our schools, thus providing a more secure and closely monitored environment for our students. When a visitor, volunteer or contractor checks in, or when a parent comes into a school, we will ask them to present a valid driver’s license or state-issued ID (passports will not be accepted as a form of ID).
Please note the following IDs are known to work within the system:
- Military ID
- Government ID
- Mexico Driver License
- Mexico Consulate ID
- Canada Driver License
- Alien Registration Receipt Cards
This list is not meant to be exhaustive, or to exclude other forms of valid state or government issued photo identification cards. If another form of ID is presented, we will evaluate its use for the Raptor system.The ID will be scanned into the system and the personal information on the ID will be checked against a national sex offender database. This will provide an added layer of protection to ensure our schools remain secure environments for students, staff and approved visitors.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation in presenting your valid ID when checking in at any of our campuses. We appreciate your partnership, commitment and service to our schools! If you would like to learn more about the new visitor system, please visit the Raptor website. If you have any questions about the procedures, please contact your school principal.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the Raptor system?
Raptor is a two-fold system that serves as a visitor management tool for school personnel. The primary purpose is to positively identify every visitor who enters the campus. This is to ensure the visitor has legitimate business at the school and that the school has an accurate accounting of who is in the building in case of an emergency. The system also provides an added security feature that is used to screen visitors against a national sex offender database.
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Why is GPISD using this system?
Safety of students is the District’s highest priority. Raptor will provide a consistent system to track visitors and volunteers while keeping away people who present a danger to students and staff.
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Does GPISD have the right to require visitors, even parents, to produce identification before entering the campus?
Yes. Schools need to know who is on the campuses and why they are there. We also need to be able to confirm that an individual has the authority to have access to the student (early pick up, for example). For full legal details, refer to Senate Bill 9.
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What if the person refuses to show identification?
A campus administrator can meet with the individual and explain the process to them.
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How does it work?
When a visitor comes into the school, they will be asked to show a valid form of photo identification (e.g. driver’s license, state-issued ID). The identification is scanned into Raptor and a self-adhesive ID is printed for the visitor to wear while on the campus. The “sticker ID” positively identifies the visitor by name and by the photo from their identification source. As an additional safety precaution, the personal identification is compared against names of registered sex offenders in a database maintained by Raptor Technologies. The system notifies designated personnel if a positive match is found.
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Information Collected
Raptor collects the name, date of birth, photo, and first four digits of the identification number from the ID. The school retains neither a copy nor a scan of the driver’s license. No address or other information is obtained or retained with the scan of the ID.
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Permissions
The Raptor system checks against publicly available information only. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the right of schools to ask for identification from visitors and parents when entering a school (Meadows vs. Lake Travis ISD).
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Data Used
Public sex offender database information is used to screen visitors to the campus. This is NOT a full criminal history background search. No other information, such as traffic tickets, warrants, felonies, etc., is searched or accessed by school or system personnel.
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Privacy
The data collected is exclusively for the use of the school district. GPISD does not share this information with any third parties or outside sources.
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Data Security
Raptor uses a Tier 1 data center managed by a national provider that employs military grade security measures for accessing the data center.
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Retention
Collected data (name, date of birth, photo, and first four digits of the identification number from the ID) remains in the District’s database, which is housed in Raptor’s secure data center, until the District directs Raptor to purge the database. The information collected in the database will be retained for three years. This is in accordance with the recommended retention schedule for Visitor Control Registers located under GR1075-22 of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
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Do registered sex offenders have a right to enter schools?
If a sex offender has a legitimate reason to be on campus (e.g., visiting a legal dependent), and a court order does not prevent them from visiting the child and/or the school, then yes, the law permits them to enter a school. However, such individuals will only be given limited access. GPISD cannot deny access to an individual’s own child. Schools can, however, deny that individual’s access to other students.
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Additional Information
To learn more about the Raptor system or about Raptor Technologies, Inc., please visit www.raptorware.com.