LINO LAKES, Minn. – (Sept. 8, 2016) – In 2014, voters approved a levy referendum for the Centennial School District. As a part of the referendum the district promised to address safety and security concerns at all of its buildings. To that end a new visitor check in system is making its debut in district buildings this year.
“As visitors approach buildings, they are going to be noticing a big difference with visitor management kiosks,” said Centennial Schools Director of Technology Mike Christensen. “Visitors will simply present a drivers license to swipe and present their information into the system. From there an I.D. badge will be printed, they will then press a button to be buzzed in through the office doors.”
With the new system visitors will only be able to access a lobby space containing the kiosk. This is a big change from the previous system.
“With our old system our doors were wide open and we knew that with wide open doors anybody could get through those doors, so we changed our philosophy from basically leaving our buildings unlocked to securing entrances and having traffic/visitors flow through a single point where we can keep it much more safe and secure for our students and staff,” said Christensen.
The new system was designed with help from local law enforcement and will help in the case of an emergency in a school building.
“We used to have all visitors sign in on a paper log and the challenge was always going through that information. With a new visitor management system everything is captured digitally so there is a log that we can pull and present to law enforcement and we know who was in our buildings, what time they were in our buildings, as well as if they were to exit the building. So in the event of an emergency we have that information at our finger tips rather than to sort through paper logs,” said Christensen.
Other safety and security improvements include key card locks on doors and a video surveillance system. Visitors who do not have an I.D. are able to enter their information into the system manually.
