Framingham Public Schools are committed to providing a safe and welcoming learning environment in order to increase achievement and access for all students irrespective of their immigration status, national origin, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, sex and gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability status, and/or beliefs.
Parent / Family Engagement
We highly encourage and welcome parent and family engagement within our schools. From volunteering in your child’s classroom or in the library to attending school activities and events, and meeting with your child’s teachers - we believe that parent and family engagement is critical to the success of children in school.
School Building Safety
Equally important, we have a responsibility to keep students and staff safe, which is why it’s important that we know who is in our buildings during the school day. In the interest of student and staff safety, Framingham Public Schools utilizes a visitor management system in all schools. All parents, visitors, guests, vendors and volunteers are required to show photo identification when they enter a school building and check-out when they leave. There are protocols in place for anyone who does not have a photo ID. Guests receive a printed visitor badge to wear while they are in the building during school hours.
This system launched at FHS at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year and all other schools adopted this system in February of 2020. This system replaced a previous process where school guests signed in and out on a paper log. This electronic system allows us to check visitors against the sex offender registry.
We appreciate the patience of our staff and guests when signing-in and checking-out of our schools. By working together we can meet our goal to increase safety and security for students and staff.
Frequently Asked Questions
Framingham Public Schools is working with Raptor to provide a District-wide Visitor Management System. Raptor is the nation’s leading provider of integrated school safety technologies and is used in more than 32,000 campuses across the country.
Why do we need a visitor management system like Raptor?
Part of keeping our students safe is knowing who is in our buildings at all times. The Raptor system allows us to track visitors, vendors and volunteers in our schools. Raptor conducts a limited background check against the national database of registered sex offenders. More information about this is below.
This system helps to make sure visitors follow our District procedures when visiting our schools besides the school office or checking out a student. Visitors entering a school beyond the office receive a printed ID sticker that must be worn and visible during the entire stay. This makes it easier for our school staff to know who has been approved to be inside the school.
How does it work?
The visitor identification system enhances safety by reading visitors drivers’ licenses and then quickly printing a visitor badge that can includes the name of the visitor, time, date, destination and purpose of their visit.
The system scans the visitor’s name, date of birth and photo for comparison with a database of registered sex offenders, it does not check criminal or traffic history. It does not check immigration status. Using the barcode on the driver’s license, the visitor’s information is compared to a database that consists of registered sex offenders from all 50 states and U.S. territories. In the rare case that a match is found, the visitor is asked to wait while a building administrator is notified.
This also provides a more secure visitor record history and prevents new visitors from seeing the identity of other visitors on the old paper logs.
What are acceptable forms of identification?
Any other forms of government-issued identification that has name and date of birth that also fits in the scanner
If you don’t have one of the above mentioned types of identification that can be scanned, the Office Managers will manually enter the following information:
What if I have an outstanding warrant or am undocumented? Will you report me to the police or immigration?
No, absolutely not.
The National Sex Offender Public Registry is the only databases that Raptor checks. The system will not alert office staff or even know if you have an outstanding warrant or are undocumented.
Framingham Public Schools does cooperate with police. If authorities contact us to alert us to someone who might pose a threat to school safety, this information can be entered into the system so administration gets alerted if that person visits one of our schools.
Do we have the right to require visitors, even parents, to produce identification before entering the school?
Yes, we need to verify who is in our buildings, the purpose of their visit, and where the visitor will be once inside the building. This also helps ensure the visitor is who they say they are. Most importantly, it’s also in the best interest of our visitors, so we will know who is in the building in the event of an emergency.
How is my personal information protected?
The check-in system collects the minimum amount of information necessary to complete the appropriate safety checks. This includes the person's name and date of birth. This information is stored securely in Framingham’s data center at the Administrative Office. Framingham uses industry recognized security best practices for storing and protecting data. This includes regular security updates, antivirus, advanced malware protection, monitoring and periodic third-party audits. Framingham is prohibited by law from sharing this information with anyone outside the district.
What if I don’t have a valid form of ID or don’t want it scanned?
If you don’t have a state-issued ID or don’t want your ID scanned, there is still a way for you to get access to our schools. A member of the school staff will accompany you for the purpose of your visit. You will need to speak directly with school office staff members, who will ask for your legal name, date of birth, relationship to the student and reason for visiting. This may take a few minutes longer than the ID scan to complete.
Will you scan my ID every time I visit?
No. The first time you come to the school office when the new system is in place, office staff will scan your ID and register you in the system. Your registration will be good at all Framingham Public School buildings. For future visits your badge can be easily printed for your visit.
How does Raptor keep my data secure?
Raptor uses firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, host integrity monitoring and port filtering, as well as the latest security processes to protect all of its systems and data. Raptor does not share data with any third parties.
What happens if I am a registered sex offender but have a child at the school?
Arrangements should be made through the Superintendent’s Office and the Office of Safety and Security prior to arrival at your child’s school to ensure that resources are in place for your visit.
If arrangements are not made prior to your visit and your ID scan registers a match with the national database of registered sex offenders, a silent alert goes to administrative staff members so they can meet with you privately to understand the purpose and location of your visit to the school.
In either scenario, you will be escorted by a school or District employee for the duration of your visit to the school. This supervision will ensure your rights are protected in a controlled environment.
Do other schools and institutions use a system like this?
Yes. Many Districts across the country use Raptor or similar visitor management systems to help ensure school and student safety.