Superintendent unveils new program for Havre school security

During the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night at Havre Middle School, Superintendent Andy Carlson unveiled a new security measure that will be implemented in all five schools.

The program is called the Raptor program and Carlson said it is something he and his staff have been observing for some time and after seeing how many other schools have this security measure, they decided to add it.

“The other piece is that it’s just another layer of safety for us,” he added. “You go back to, it’s not to keep people away or to try and discourage people from being a part of the schools because that’s contrary to really what we want. We do need to make sure that the people that are around our students and our schools that they are safe.”

The announcement comes after three seperate threats have been discovered in less than a year on walls in Havre High School bathrooms, with the last leading to a school shutdown, lockdown and then a closed campus, and a threat last spring leading to an evacuation of Havre Middle School and a threat discovered last month in Sunnyside Intermediate School.

The Raptor program was designed by Raptor Technologies in 2002 and its website states that its goal was to be the “first web-based visitor management system designed for K-12 schools.”

Raptor Technologies’ homepage also lists several statistics. It says the program is implemented in over 23,000 schools nationwide. It also states that the program has screened 64 million visitors, sent 52,000 alerts and protected 12.6 million children. The site also lists endorsements from the Nashville School District, Houston School District and Coeur D’Alene School District, as well as many others.

The Raptor program is a small device that will be kept in the main offices of all five schools and will be used to screen people coming on to school campuses during regular schooltime hours. Visitors will need a photo ID to enter the school.The ID is scanned with the Raptor program, which produces a badge with the date and time the visitor entered the school.

At the same time, the Raptor program will flag any visitor who is listed as a sex offender or has a history of violence. Carlson said those are the only offenses that the Raptor program flags and it is not a comprehensive background check.

“We’re not looking for, or digging up, criminal background histories. What we’re looking for is, you know, do you have a tendency towards violence, do you have something where you shouldn’t be around kids. We’re looking for those things,” he added.

Should any red flags go up, the school resource officer and principal will be notified, Carlson added.

Carlson said the device will not be used for after-school events such as plays, sports or parent teacher conferences.

Once people are already entered in the system, though, said Carlson, they don’t have to swipe their photo ID because their information will already be in the system.

Carlson said the hope is roll out the Raptor program during second semester, but the district still needs to coordinate training for the front office personnel.

“We obviously want to train those folks at the front desk. That’s a real important piece,” Carlson added. “They have to be comfortable with what they’re doing because it is going to be another layer for them. It’s not a complicated system, which is nice. You don’t want to put something that’s extremely time-consuming in. The biggest piece is that our community knows, hey, if you’re going to come to our school and spend time at our school, you need to bring some sort of photo ID.”

Carlson said anyone who is uncomfortable with the new procedure can contact the Robins Administration Building and work out an alternate way to be screened.

A new application is also being implemented that teachers can use to help keep track of their students during emergency situations, Carlson said.

Teachers were concerned about how they can keep track of their students in an emergency situation and the app is designed to help them do that in real time. Carlson added that it will also allow for updates to be sent out to parents to notify them about what is going on at the school as well.

Carlson said the application is fairly straightforward and no training has been planned as of yet.