News and Information

Schools screen for sex offenders
By CYNTHIA LESCALLEET
Wednesday, March 8, 2006 1:32 PM CST

Schools are going high tech in their attempts to protect students against sex offenders.

Whether school visitors are parents who are known to the staff or one-time guests, they’re being screened with more scrutiny by staff and software. A new system in place at a growing number of local schools scans visitors driver’s licenses and checks information against sex-offender databases before issuing a photo badge stating where they’re headed on campus.

“It’s just one more blanket of security,” said Kelly McBride, principal of River Oaks Elementary School, 2008 Kirby Drive. The 625-student school installed the equipment and software a month ago.

With the school in the midst of a construction project, parents had been concerned about having more unfamiliar people on campus, McBride said. Interest in procuring the Web-based system also came from parents with older children at Lanier Middle School, 2600 Woodhead St., which has had it since June 2004.

“We’re able to monitor who’s in our building at all times,” said Julia Dimmitt, Lanier principal. “When it comes to student safety, this is a no-brainer.”

Keith Guillory, parent of a third-grader at River Oaks Elementary, said he appreciates the school’s extra vigilance given “the times we’re in now. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a must. You want to know the school is doing everything it can” to protect students.

The visitor-tracking system, called V-Soft, was developed three years ago by Heights-based Raptor Technologies. Its founders, Allan Measom, who grew up in West University Place, and Justin Waldrip, had previously worked for a technology contractor to Enron Corp.

V-Soft’s basic system includes a scanner, printer and software access to sex-offender databases in 48 states, said Carol Measom, Raptor, marketing director. Missouri and Hawaii do not keep records in a compatible format, she explained.

If the screening identifies a sex offender, police are immediately notified by e-mail. Schools also have policies in place for dealing with the situation, she said.

While the software also can accommodate input from schools about various other issues, such as custody orders or restraining orders, it does not conduct criminal background checks, according to the company’s Web site, www.raptorware.com.

River Oaks Elementary is one of about 70 HISD schools to have installed the V-Soft system in the past few years, said Norm Uhl, an HISD spokesman. Since the district is decentralized, individual schools decide whether they want it — and how to pay for it.

The PTO at River Oaks Elementary, for example, footed the $1,500 start-up cost. At Lanier, the school budget paid for it. At Horn Elementary, which installed the system Feb. 28, funds came from the school budget. In subsequent years, the annual access fee is $432.

Within the Examiner readership area, HISD schools with the system include Lamar and Westbury high schools, Johnston and Grady middle schools, T.H. Rogers School, and Benavidez, Parker, Kolter and Horn elementary schools, according to HISD’s Uhl.

At HISD schools, whether or not they have V-Soft, volunteers must still file separate paperwork for a complete background check.

“We use records from the Texas Department of Public Safety and Harris County,” Uhl said in an e-mail follow-up to questions. “HISD employees access the information. We also use TEA Region IV - Safe Schools for various national databases and we’ve also used a company with over 200 national databases, since late 2002.”

Other companies offer visitor-tracking software, Measom said, but Raptor is the only one linked to sex-offender databases.

More than 1,400 schools in 100 districts in 11 states have installed the system, she said. Most are public schools, but St. Agnes Academy, 9000 Bellaire Blvd., is one of a handful of private-school clients.

Like many schools, the visitor badges it once used were handwritten and “not really telling us anything,” said Leon Howard, St. Agnes’ finance director.

The new system has administration “feeling comfortable we know who people are” and where they’re going, he said. “We scan everyone: parents, contractors and guests.”

Parents have been supportive of the new procedures, said St. Agnes spokeswoman Megan Clark. “Everyone knows these checks are here for a reason.”

To comment on this story, visit riveroakssoapbox.com.