Shown are the components of the Raptor security system being installed in Wawasee schools. To the right of the computer monitor is the device used to scan in identification. To the left is the printer for the visitors badges. The poster shown will be posted somewhere near the main entrance.

SYRACUSE — Wawasee Community Schools is taking an additional step to protect the safety of its students. A new security system, Raptor, is being installed in each of the school buildings in the corporation.

Visitors to each school will still be buzzed in as they have been in the past, but now must stop at the main office and show a valid form of government identification, which will be scanned into the Raptor system. A visitors badge will be printed showing time of arrival and destination point in the building.

The Raptor system will only be used to check against the national sex offender registry database, said Steve Perek, assistant principal at Wawasee High School. The intent is to protect students from any dangers that could arise if contact is made with someone who has been convicted of a sex crime. It will not be used to check backgrounds of individuals, he added.

If the system detects a match with the sex offender registry, an administrator will be notified.

For those who do not have a valid government ID, “we will work with them,” Perek said.

Perek stressed the system will only be used for visitors during the school day and not for sporting events or other after hours events.

He said the Raptor system was chosen after discussions with several school corporations. Warsaw Community Schools is already using Raptor and has had success with it, he noted. “It is user friendly, easy to use and easy to install,” Perek said. “It can be customized too.”

Raptor can provide an additional layer of security and is less “cumbersome” to visitors, he noted. “We like it because it prints the badge and it tells when you entered the building and where you are going,” he said. And the system allows for additional components to be added later if needed.

Work has started to install the system, but an exact date when it will be operational in each building is not known yet. It was noted at a recent school board meeting it would be sometime after Labor Day.