
By Justin Annis, Cushing Public Schools
(Cushing, Okla.) On February 18, 2019, Cushing Public Schools will launch a new visitor check-in system, called School Safe ID, to better ensure the safety of all students, employees, and visitors. For the first time, all visitors will be required to present a valid state-issued ID to obtain a visitor’s pass and enter the school. The name and date of birth on visitors’ driver’s licenses will be compared to the national database of registered sex offenders.
This is a proactive measure to keep our students and staff safe and simplify the check-in process for both our visitors and our office staff.
School Safe ID will be managed through a kiosk housed in each school’s office. A touchscreen will guide visitors through the check-in process, requiring them to scan their ID. Unlike older visitor management models that read the visitor’s photo and name from the front of the license, School Safe ID scans the barcode on the back, ensuring accuracy of the information recorded and making inaccurate flagging of visitors less likely.
Visitors without a state-issued ID will not be permitted to enter the school without an escort. Visitors will be able to drop items off or visit the front office without an ID.
School Safe ID is a privately-owned software company based in Oklahoma City. The company specializes in cloud-based identification software, both for visitor management systems and generating printable student ID cards. Because the system is cloud-based, schools don’t have to purchase and install additional software or computers to manage SchoolSafeID. Additional technology available through School Safe ID’s visitor management system includes issuing digital visitor’s passes for visitors who are in the facility on a regular basis and who’ve already been cleared. Those “digital passes” would be kept on the individual’s phone and scanned at the School Safe ID kiosk. Schools then have the ability to send messages or notifications to individuals who opt to participate. School Safe ID also has the ability to text a teacher when a parent of one of his or her students checks in through the system.
“School Safe ID not only enhances the safety of the students and staff, it can also help improve communication among school staff, and the school and its parents,” said Bart Baker, CEO of SchoolSafeID.
For more information about the district’s implementation of School Safe ID, please visit https://www.cushingtigers.com/ or email [email protected]. For more information about School Safe ID, please visit https://www.schoolsafeid.com/ or call 877-565-0182.
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