Although school districts have standards needing guests to sign in and put on a badge whilst in a school, quite a few schools are choosing to give out photo identification badges to all staff as well. Administrators say badges allow them to know at a glance who's who, and brings about an extra feeling of security and safety to buildings. Included: A description of several schools identification badge practices.
You are an elementary school teacher who looks out the class room door one day to find a guy donning camouflage gear and carrying a weapon as he strolls down the hallway.

Cause for concern? And how.
In this case, fortunately, the person was a conservation official visiting a classroom. But the occurrence led to step-by-step changes in the Indiana school region where it happened. Not only are doors closed, but all visitors and members of staff have got to have on identification badges.
For a long time, it has been normal procedure in a lot of regions for school site visitors to sign in whenever they arrive at a building and get a badge to put on during their stay. Several regions and schools, though, now are issuing I . d . badges to all school members of staff -- as well as students -- to keep better tabs on who belongs on campus.
Several schools intend to make sure everyone on campus has a legitimate reason, explained Ronald Stephens, exec director of the National School Safety Center a school safety consulting business. If individuals dont have badges, they dont belong in school. Badges are another administration tool for campus entry and management.

SECURITY FOR INSECURE Moments
Numerous superiors advised Education World they implemented ID badges during the last few years as part of an attempt to boost security; a few changes were sparked by school shootings. The more recent terrorist attacks, child abductions, and child custody fights have increased administrators security mindset.
My greatest concern is that I will have to notify a parent that his or her child is missing, explained Patricia Hansen, significant of Vista Grande School in Danville, California, where all adults are required to present ID badges. The Pupils know if they see an adult with no badge, they're supposed to tell another adult immediately.
Vista Grande, a K-5 school, has required badges for staff members within the past 8 years, since Hansen arrived. Students have ID cards, that also become library cards.
It's purely a safety issue, Hansen reported of the ID cards. Furthermore, it shows that school is a pretty important place. You cannot enter labs with out badges, considering they are important locations. Well, school is an important place, too.
When a number of individuals entered the school some years ago and stole credit cards from classrooms, staff members knew immediately that they didn't belong in the school and warned authorities.

Aside from increasing school safety, badges can build a feeling of oneness among staff and students, Hansen added.
Regarding other administrators, global events persuaded them to make a change. We had fears concerning things happening in the world as well as in education, mentioned LeRoy Fulmer, assistant superintendent for curriculum design and instruction for the Waynesville (Missouri) School District. ID badges were instituted for high school staff and students six years back and 3 years ago for middle school students and staff. Even before (student shootings at) Columbine (High School), we thought we needed a higher level of security, Fulmer told Education World. The guidelines has allowed staff to quickly identify individuals who were in the school building without approval, he added.
A shooting rampage by a pair of students at Columbine High School on April 20, '99 that left 11 students and 2 members of staff dead spurred superiors in the Branson, Missouri, school region to re-examine their security and safety procedure, and staff members and pupil ID badges became part of the brand new strategy. Identification also is significant due to high turnover in the school system, because of the local tourism market.
Everybody knows in a flash who is official, mentioned Branson superintendent Lee Orth about implementing badges. It's a simple approach to recognize who's who.
The school district issues lanyards in the school colors and so staff and pupils can wear the badges around their necks.
Orth also knows members of staff consider the policy very seriously. One evening, Orth asked a custodian to allow him into a band room in one of the schools, and the custodian declined -- simply because Orth had forgotten his ID and the custodian did not recognize him.
When another member of staff apologized to Orth the following day, he waved it off. I stated dont say sorry; thats precisely what is supposed to happen.

ON-SITE Worries
In other instances, on-campus occurrences caused step-by-step changes. Staff members at an elementary school in the Metropolitan School District of Mt. Vernon (Indiana) were the ones shaken a few years ago by the appearance in their halls of the camouflaged conservation official.
That episode, that happened a year before superintendent Dr. C. Keith Spurgeon came on board, persuaded him to make improvements. Aside from securing doors, we needed ID badges for all members of staff, which need to be used all the time, Spurgeon informed Education World. It helps in an emergency to identify who fits in where.
The Plano, Texas, School District launched ID badges for core administrators after someone got into a building and threatened a number of members of staff, reported Carole Greisdorf, special assistant to the superintendent. All district personnel are required to wear badges. While one high school demands students to wear badges, the other two high schools give ID badges. I just believe we have all become more safety conscious, Greisdorf mentioned.

Before You Give Out Photo IDs
Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, has tips for districts or schools considering identification badges:
If the administration is mulling requiring badges or ID cards, the reasons for them ought to be extensively told to members of staff, parents, and students. Make it clear that it is to further improve security and safety.
When a region or school chooses to utilize ID cards or badges, issue them to both staff and pupils. It gives everyone on the school campus an official capacity; it states everyone belongs there, and staff is very likely to control entry, stated Stephens. It can make a non-student or burglar feel really out of place.