The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

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WCPSS Policy

Wake County School Board policy requires visitors at the school board to show their driver’s license to get in the building. This policy was violated Tuesday, March 17 when there was an open meeting; the open law was violated by visitors that did not show their information to go into school board meetings.

The State Law says that each official of a public body shall be open to the public, and any person is entitled to attend such a meeting. By entering the Wake County School Board building, visitors are asked to place their driver’s licenses in a Lobby Guard machine is manufactured by Raleigh,  it is located North of Raleigh the machine is used for large production and facility. The machine then compares the information that it is given from each visitor, and it is stored in the server for the school district. The visitors that do not have their driver’s license would have to enter their names and birth dates. The visitors  refuse to give their information or refuse to get their picture taken will not be admitted to go in the building.

“We just believe that, on all school system property, whether it’s a school, whether it’s one of our administrative buildings, any school system property, we believe we have the obligation to ensure we’re protecting our students,” said Marvin Connelly, chief of staff for the school district.

Wake County School Board had purchased the Lobby Guard machine for its administration building in 2007 for less than $5,000. The machine is used in corporations to find and catch sex offenders and other  people that have charges in Wake County. Visitors can get red flagged if they make threats to staff members or students, and if they are trespassing on school grounds. Wral News requested a copy of the red-flagged list, but some school districts had declined their request.

“There are ways to address security concerns that don’t involve you identifying yourself,” said Mike Tadych, a Raleigh lawyer. He also said the LobbyGuard machine creates an “impediment” to attending a school board meeting that merely going through a metal detector does not.

Read more at http://www.wral.com/wake-school-board-screening-process-may-violate-open-meetings-laws/14518001/#flzQ6AICuoh51dgl.99

 

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