The Prince Edward County Public School system has installed a new Visitor Management System at all the schools, the Career Tech building, the bus shop, and the central office building. The Raptor V-Soft system was installed to add another blanket of security for the safety of all students and staff. The new Visitor Management System will be used in all buildings and will replace all previous sign-in procedures.  The motivation behind the move to use the system is to continue to provide a safe and secure environment for all students, staff, and community visitors.

Robust in application, this system will enable building administrators to gain a better understanding of who is attempting to gain access to the campus, as well as track those visitors and volunteers who routinely visit their building. Most significantly, this system tracks all registered sexual offenders (RSO) in the United States and alerts the building administrator when and if an RSO attempts to gain entry.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there are an estimated 603,000 RSOs in the U.S. This system will identify all visitors who enter the buildings. Upon entering a school, a visitor will proceed to a registration desk staffed by a member of that particular school (as selected by the school administration). The staff member will take the ID (usually a person’s driver’s license) and scan it into the V-Soft system. Once completed, a visitor’s badge will be issued with the person’s name and photo, the date, the time, and the destination within the building for the visit. The ID will be held in a secure location until the visitor’s pass is returned. When the visitor leaves the building, the staff will sign the person out.

Visitors without a valid ID will need to gain permission from the school administration to complete their visit. Visitors without a valid ID will only be allowed to enter the school twice during the school year. 

A letter to parents from the Superintendent explaining the purpose of this system, was mailed out on July 28, 2008.  Information to the Farmville Herald was provided on July 30, 2008.  Teachers, supervisors, and staff members who did not receive the initial information in July, will receive information on August 4, 2008.