Courier-Express/Tri-County - 3/5/2009

DuBOIS - The DuBois Area School District just got a little safer with the installation of new security software.

V-soft, a Web-based software application that aids education facilities in tracking their visitors, students, faculty and volunteers to help control campus safety, is now being used at the DuBois Area High School and in the process of being implemented at the DuBois Area Middle School.

Right now, both schools will be using the new software to just track visitors.

Visitors entering the buildings must provide identification in the form on a driver's license or military ID. The ID is then scanned into the system by one of the office secretaries. For now, the system being used in the DuBois Area School District checks for registered sex offenders on the Megan's Law Web sites. High School Resource Officer Lanny Prosper said the system can be used to check for custody orders, restraining orders, banned individuals and student tardiness, but for now it is just being used to check for sex offenders. Prosper said he would like to see the system eventually installed at the eight elementary schools as well.

If somebody does not have an ID on them when entering the building, they have to fill out a visitors form and the school resource officer runs a check on them manually.

Once scanned, an ID badge label is printed, which the visitor must wear. If the system finds that a visitor is a registered sex offender, a message is immediately sent to the school's resource officer and to the school principals via text message for them to handle the matter.

When visitors leave, they must check out as well with the office secretary, who just simply clicks on "check out" on the system's computer screen.

Once a visitor is scanned in the system, their information is saved for future visits.

The system can also acknowledge who or where the visitor is visiting in the building.

"I like knowing who is in the building," Prosper said.

He can do so from the computer in his office by pulling up the system and viewing the list of those who have checked in and checked out.

Prosper said he first learned about the system while attending School Resource Officer school last summer. He thought it would be a good way to acknowledge who is in the buildings.

At the time of purchase, the DuBois Area School District was the third school district in the state to implement the system. Each system costs approximately $1,500, which includes a yearly access fee, an optical scanner, a label printer, visitor badge labels and a database setup fee.