News and Information

Northwest to closely monitor its visitors
By SARAH BAHARI, Star-Telegram Staff Writer, Ft. Worth, TX

Monday, Oct 29, 2007 – Northwest will join a growing list of school districts that scan the driver's licenses of visitors and volunteers as they enter the schools.

The IDs will be checked against registered sex offender databases nationally. Each visitor will receive a disposable photo ID badge.

School officials said the measure will increase safety and give staff an idea of who's in the building.

"As we grow, we have more and more people coming in and out of our buildings," said Mona Benotti, the district's assistant superintendent for administrative services. "This will give us a greater sense of security."Northwest isn't alone. The program, V-Soft, which was created by Houston-based Raptor Technologies in 2002, is used in 460 school districts in 35 states, Marketing Director Carol Measom said.

The cost varies depending on the size of the district. It will initially cost Northwest $37,000 to install, and $9,000 a year to run. It is expected to be ready in January.

The Carroll school district installed V-Soft last week in five schools as part of a pilot program that may be extended late next month. Mansfield and Eagle Mountain-Saginaw also have the system.

"We felt this was an important tool in this day and age," Carroll spokeswoman Julie Thannum said.

A recent incident

School district officials learned this month that a sex offender had been working as a custodian at Chisholm Trail Middle School in Rhome.

The man, 40, died in the middle of the night in the boys' locker room while apparently practicing autoerotic asphyxiation, an activity used to increase sexual pleasure.

During the investigation, school and police officials learned that the man was convicted twice of indecent exposure before he was hired in May.

He used a fake name and forged documents to get his job.

In response, the district almost immediately fingerprinted about 900 district employees, including custodians, cafeteria workers, substitute teachers and bus drivers.

The fingerprints were sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety for analysis.

The most recent step, however, is not in response to that incident, district officials say.

"This is something we've been talking about for some time," Benotti said.

Online: www.northwest.k12.tx.us

How it works

Visitors, including parents, volunteers and some temporary workers will have their IDs scanned at the front desks.

Names and birth dates will be checked against registered sex offender databases around the country.

If a person is flagged, the system will send a text message or e-mail to notify Northwest school police and the campus administration, who will monitor the visitor while on campus.