News and Information

New schools, security will greet many students
Austin American Statesman, Monday, August 14, 2006

Students, start your engines.

Summer vacation is over for many students attending Central Texas public schools that open this week. In Round Rock, where schools open today, big changes are underway.

Most notable is a new and innovative visitor check-in system that will make Round Rock campuses safer. The system — called the Raptor V-Soft management system — uses computer software to check and track visitors, including parents who come to school. A visitor must present photo identification to the school the first time he or she visits a school. The information is scanned into the system that matches the person's identification against online sex offender registries for Texas and 47 other states.

The whole process takes just a few seconds and if no match is found, the computer prints out an official badge for the visitor that tells school officials the person has been cleared. Aside from helping officials know who is on Round Rock campuses at any given time, the software can provide alerts so that schools know if certain people are under restraining orders or about special custodial arrangements for students. We applaud Round Rock for establishing the multimillion-dollar Raptor system to protect its 39,000 students. The district did that without cost to its local taxpayers by winning a $7 million, three-year federal grant.

Several districts will be opening new schools, including the Austin district, which has about 82,000 students. The district will feature a new pre-kindergarten and early learning center at Lucy Read School when classes begin Tuesday. The center aims to better prepare the district's youngest students for the academic rigors of school. The focus on early learning is well placed, particularly since that is the age-group that is driving enrollment growth. Austin also is opening two new schools, Nan Clayton Elementary in Southwest Austin and Lance Cpl. Nicholas Perez Elementary, in Southeast Austin.

Of course, students in all districts will need to be updated on immunizations, dress codes, disciplinary policies and the bus routes if they are using transportation provided by the district. They can get that information from their individual districts. We urge parents to help their children get ready for school to make their transition from summertime to school time as smooth as possible.