Rest Easy folks - these people are concerned for your child'

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Lori
Posts: 865
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 1998 6:01 am

Rest Easy folks - these people are concerned for your child'

Post by Lori »

I don't usually come right out and express such a negative opinion - but this article disgusts me.

Does anyone actually read this and feel that the children in those schools are SAFER? Like the criminals entering school property are going to SIGN IN ON A DAMN COMPUTER???

How many of you with school age children signed in everytime you had to drop off their forgotten lunch?

Maybe it's just here in the redneck Riviera - where we haven't had as many Columbine type incidents hit the news (though there have been school shootings!) but it is MORE difficult to sign in a school as a visitor than it is to just walk in!

Yes - I HAVE made mention to school officials - sent copies of DeBecker's chapters/outlines from Protecting the Gift - and of course - those in charge are most concerned! And what kinds of new safety and security measures does the American public receive? 30K software programs that criminals and child molesters and drug dealers are going to go out of their way to sign in before entering school property.

sigh.

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Sept. 26, 2000
School security gets boost
New software will keep track of visitors, volunteers
New computer software two County school employees helped create will increase the level of security at each of the county's public schools this year and make it easier for schools to keep some federal and grant money.
The School District purchased 80 copies of KeepnTrack from Affiliated Technologies recently at a cost of $30,000.

The program will be installed at each school over the next several months. It will help track school volunteers and guests by having them log onto the computer before they are allowed access to the school. Once the program is fully operational, it will notify school officials about whether a volunteer has gone through the necessary background checks and whether that person is allowed to work with children.

This should help eliminate child molesters from such positions, said Sara Stern, the School District volunteer coordinator. Currently, volunteers fill out forms for the district office, which officials at schools are required to check before the person works with any school activity.

"As a parent I feel more secure knowing the school is using this," said Nadine Smith, a parent of two children who attend a local elementary school. This was one of seven schools that tested the program late last year.

"With all the disturbing things that have happened at other schools, I am very safety-conscious and I'm glad the schools here are too," Smith said.

The program's second facet, tracking volunteer hours, is important because to receive thousands or even millions of dollars in grants or federal money, schools must prove that community members donate time in their facilities. Currently, such volunteer hours are tallied manually. Without documentation, schools risk losing those dollars.

"It's been immensely helpful," said technology specialist Sara DaSilva, who along with Magnet School librarian Mary Ward helped create the program. "It's added another measure of security for our schoolchildren."

DaSilva and Ward called Judy Schini, who founded Richmond-based Affiliated Technologies in the early 1990s to work with schools, to see if Schini knew of a program that could keep track of volunteer hours. Schini hadn't, so the three women collaborated to create KeepnTrack.

"If it weren't for them I'm not sure we would have developed this," Schini said. "And there is such a need for this kind of program today with all the violence in the schools we have seen across the country."

The program also has a host of other features, including a guest sign-in. Visitors must sign in, and the program will print a badge they are required to wear while on campus.

"It raises awareness and that's good," said Assistant Principal Cindy Wilson. "The children know that if they see someone without a badge, they need to tell a teacher or administrator."

The form volunteers complete for a background check is already available on the district Web site, and volunteer coordinator Sara Stern hopes to soon have everything automated through the new software.

"That's where we're headed - so we can keep track of things and make sure our children are as safe as they can possibly be," Stern said. "That's our number one priority."
Allen M.

Rest Easy folks - these people are concerned for your child'

Post by Allen M. »

Keep track of things, alright.

"One Toke over the Line."

Lori, someone had to make this up, it reads surreal.
david
Posts: 2077
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 1998 6:01 am
Location: Boston, MA

Rest Easy folks - these people are concerned for your child'

Post by david »

They are mixing purposes here. One is to track "in-kind" resources as a match for federal grants and the other is to screen for sexual offenders/predators who have already been caught and identified by the legal system. Neither is a bad thing to do. What is bad is overblowning the "safety" piece to sell the system. Marketing at work, playing at parents' fears.

We routinely do Criminal Offense Record Information/Sexual Offense Record Information checks (CORI/SORI) on all new candidates for staff and volunteer positions. Once in while, someone does get flagged for a past offense and the person is talked to. If it an offense is related to sexual predation or violent behavior, such a person is automatically eliminated from being considered. We have had also folks who had record of speeding/drunk driving as a teenager. Such folks can work though we would be hesistent in letting them drive in the course of work.

The fact is many predators have not been caught so the CORI/SORI really doesn't screen these folks. Signing in and having batches do nothing to protect children while these folks are in the building. Internal security rules and procedures within a building are better safety measures, e.g. no staff or volunteer should ever be anywhere alone with a child, children are not allowed to wander in a building alone. Folks who are in areas where they shouldn't be or aren't familiar to staff are politely questioned, security/administrators are notified of any suspicious folks or activities, children are calmly precautioned by parents/staff, etc. These are much more needed for a safe environment. Even then security lapses occur and we have go through with everyone from staff to parents to kids about safety measures...

david
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