I really like this idea. Mokena 159 should look at it..... Within the last week or two, they had an article up here saying that they've increased their security measures. Their story was kind of a joke because the only thing that they were changing was the fact that 2 of the 3 offices were going to open maybe an hour later. Other than that, everything else that was mentioned was happening when my 20something kid went to those schools.

In order to retrieve the history of targeted individuals wishing to enter the school buildings this company has access to at least ten government databases according to their web site. This indicates some kind of high level government involvement and yet this company presents itself as a private domain. Also interesting that no company board or investors/owners are mentioned. That usually means covert government involvement by some current or former state official or officials (red flag). As read this system is ripe for abuse. Who has access to the data in the school office? What’s to keep school personnel from “running” their neighbors or fellow personnel? Shouldn’t the operator him/herself be fully screened and given some sort of higher security clearance classification? These are potentially dangerous waters school administrators are going into. Is this even necessary? Why not just a camera and a buzz-in door with a loudspeaker for communication? If the person appears to be hiding something a further check could be made before entry. Did school administrators consider all possibilities and ramifications before agreeing to this system? And if some parent does indeed have some past criminal history does that mean they are forever banned from school property?

Amen Eric. This is WAY out-of-line. This will only create more problems without addressing the problem.

Somebody buzzes to get their kid- they run a check- outstanding speeding ticket in Wyoming from 1987- police called and dad's arrested- opps clerical error- that ticket was indeed paid. sorry.

The crazed shooters in the news lately frequently have no criminal background. They usually have mental issues from a legally prescribed psychopharmaceuticals. Will this cross-reference govt prescription databases? How will this prevent first-time criminals? What if they just shoot their way in like Adam Lanza?

$8000 sounds way, way too reasonable.Much too cheap for this technology. There will be expensive monitoring fees on the back-end. watch for it. This will end up costing 6-figures guaranteed. Stop lying to us Dist 122.

What type of training will the secretaries get that find themselves with this incredible new power? Think TSA. We have a dysfunctional school board who can't behave- now we need to trust the secretaries in charge won't abuse this system?

Knee-jerk feel-good invasive program. simple and proven metal detectors would be more effective- just like they use in any court or Federal Building. I don't buy the " if it saves one child" logic- gross intrusion of privacy by untrained and UNACCOUNTABLE lower-level staff. This will generate HUGE lawsuits against the district.

If this is installed, We will be relocating to a non-nanny state.

I agree with you Eric, too much info to be accessed at the hand of who? I think a panic button, security cameras and being "buzzed in" should be sufficient.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Ben Franklin

Yes, it does sound too inexpensive, to put security in all three of our mokena schools is way more.

With RaptorTrace’s online criminal background screening service, schools and other organizations can know that the people they bring into their organization are people they can trust. RaptorTrace offers an affordable way to instantly pre-screen individuals such as applicants, volunteers, faculty, and members, against more than 313,000,000 national records* including:
Arrest Records (ARST)
Administrative Office of the Courts
Department of Corrections
County Court
District Court
Superior Court
Municipal Court
District Clerk
Common Pleas
Clerk of Court
* Important note: Only electronically filed records can be accessed using RaptorTrace. Any records that are not filed electronically are not searched by RaptorTrace.

I think LW is doing the best they can to have the best available security system in place to protect the staff and the students. How else can they possibly address the "real problem" of the rise in crazed mass murderers? Should they employ a SWAT team every day and at every entrance? If they do nothing, parents are not happy and quite honestly, the schools are vulnerable and not safe. What exactly should they do to provide safety, stay in budget and yet not leave visitors feeling as though their privacy has been violated? I can't imagine that the administrator of the security system cares about parking violations and unpaid speeding tickets.
We live in a very screwed-up world. Sometimes we have to choose from the best of the worst options for protection.

According to the NTAC, all incidents of school shootings since 1999 were committed by boys or young men. No school violence has been committed by parents. Seems to me doing background checks on parents coming to school to volunteer, attend a school play/musical, meet with a teacher , pick up their student is just plain wrong.

if I want to pick up my high school child. I should not have to give up my privacy. I will now be asking for my child to come to the office and I will not go into the rest of the school.

at LWN if you pick up your child early or if they are sick you walk through the halls to get them. There is no reason why a parent should be in the halls during school. When a parent arrives at the office they should buzz the child to come down.

http://www.facebook.com/BrimfieldPolice

There should be NO one in the building during the school day except for staff, students and police. Dedicate a secure room/vestibule near the entrance for conferences or meetings with parents. Set a perimeter of cameras and locked doors, so these kids can be safe….the teachers can be safe….and the building can function as a school and not a murder scene.

I agree. I don't like walking the hallways. Also they don't check to see if your child in the nurses office or SSO room. They just take your word and send you down.

So what happens when during the day the students are being busses from campus to campus. The bus parks in the front and the children exit the building. What is stopping anyone from just going through the open door and into the main hallway. Nothing is stopping it. Buzz systems are only good if noone can open the doors once the campus is in session. Good start but think the whole process through.

Even if this were to be an effective system, is this in place at the doors by the Aquatic Center?

I would be in favor of this *if* parents and/or legal guardians could have passes issued at the beginning of each school year that override the system. Perhaps that could be incorporated into a fingerprint verification.

Other than parents, visitors should be screened and the school and the parents have a right to make sure that is done.

This is a system that very well could prevent or at least minimize mass school killings. We have to make it harder for nut-jobs with military assault weapons to cut twenty Kindergarten kids in half with multiple rounds shot through their bodies.

MY license has been scanned for some time at a New Lenox GRADE school....does this mean that my background has been "checked"??? While I have undergone this numerous times for various professional and personal activities, I have always KNOWN that it is happening (I presume). So are the grade schools already using this Raptor system? If not, seems like more "TSA theatre" as noted above. If so, shouldn't I have been told??? Also have to agree that there's as many holes in this system as Swiss cheese, i.e. after school activities, park district re-use, etc.