In this featured piece by WAOW (ABC 9), the outlet reports on the Wausau School District’s rollout of Visitor Aware, a new visitor screening system designed to identify potential threats such as sex offenders and banned visitors before they can access sensitive areas of a school. Visitors check in by stating their purpose, taking a photo, scanning the barcode on their ID, and providing a destination, after which they receive a printed sticker with their name and photo. Diana White, Wausau School District’s coordinator of communications and marketing, said the system scans multiple national databases, including the Sex Offender Registry and FBI Most Wanted list, before allowing someone to enter. The district piloted the software starting in summer 2023 and adopted it after finding it more efficient than its prior single-laptop check-in process, especially for large events.
Key Takeaways
- The Wausau School District implemented a new visitor screening system called Visitor Aware to identify potential threats before they access sensitive school areas.
- Visitors check in by stating their purpose, taking a photo, scanning their ID barcode, and specifying a destination before receiving a printed name-and-photo sticker.
- Diana White, Wausau School District’s coordinator of communications and marketing, said the system scans national databases, including the Sex Offender Registry and FBI Most Wanted list, to verify visitors are safe to enter.
- The Wausau School District piloted the software beginning in summer 2023 before adopting it districtwide.
- For large-scale events, the district can deploy multiple tablets running the software to speed up check-in and checkout for approved attendees.
Original Story
The Wausau School District now has new visitor screening tools with a system called Visitor Aware.
One of the major components of the software is it helps the district identify potential threats like sex offenders and banned visitors.
Having these located in the front office means those people would not gain access to sensitive areas.
Using it is easy.
The person says why they are there, they take a photo, provide the back barcode of their ID (usually a driver’s license), say where they are going and get a sticker to wear with their name and photo.