Recent enhancements to entrances at two secondary schools in the Upper Perkiomen School District have been implemented without issue, according to Superintendent Alexis McGloin.

        "It's gone really well," she said.

        The goal is to make the high school and middle school more secure, McGloin said, adding that district officials have had no previous security issues at either school.

        "We're being proactive," McGloin said.

        In both cases, the purpose of the changes have been to create safe entries, as well as to minimize unauthorized personnel within the buildings, Sean Arney, the district's assistant superintendent, wrote in an email to parents.

        District officials funded the improvements, which cost approximately $13,000, with a Safe Schools grant.

        At the middle school, the front entrance was restructured to better control visitors entering the building, according to Arney's letter.

        At the high school, new security cameras and a contracted security guard were recently added to the main entrance. Work at the entrance also included more secure doors.

        McGloin said a new electronic guest/visitor management system, known as RAPTOR, was implemented at the high school one month into the current school year.

        The program is designed to monitor all guests/visitors to the school campus and to identify anyone who may compromise school safety.  It maintains a record of all visitors to the school campus and identifies any person who might attempt to access the school, but is restricted due to documented reasons, such as custodial matters or court-ordered restriction.

        Most significantly, the system tracks all registered sexual offenders in the United States and alerts the staff when and if one attempts to gain entry, according to Arney's email.

        The system scans a visitor's driver License or other government-issued photo identification, then screens the individual through a national database, according to the assistant superintendent.

        He wrote that when a visitor is cleared, RAPTOR V-Soft will print a badge featuring their name, photo, date, time and destination within the building. If a potential concern is identified, the program instantly alerts school officials. Concerns will be addressed immediately by the building principal and/or their designee.

        "As the district strives to maintain a secure learning environment for students and staff, it is our hope that families will welcome this added management and monitoring safety feature," Arney wrote.