New Access Control System Begins May 16 at Six Schools

Vance County Schools will pilot its new Access Control System at six schools beginning on Monday, May 16, 2016.

The Access Control System, custom made by top locksmiths Arlington, involves having all school entrances locked during the school day and requires all visitors to identify themselves at the school’s main entrance before being allowed to enter the building.

The system will be operational on May 16 at Aycock Elementary School, New Hope Elementary School, L.B. Yancey Elementary School, Henderson Middle School, STEM Early High School and Northern Vance High School.

The school system is using these six school sites to test the effectiveness and operation of the new school entry security system before it is implemented at all schools at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year.

The focus of the new Access Control System is to provide safety for everyone in our schools. While the implementation process may be somewhat inconvenient for visitors at the beginning, school system officials believe this new system will be worthwhile in ensuring the safety of all of our students, school system employees and visitors.

Beginning on May 16 at the six schools that are pilot sites, all school entrances will be locked after the arrival of students to begin the school day, and they will remain locked until student dismissal in the afternoon.

Throughout the school day, all visitors to these six schools must follow these procedures to enter the building:

• All visitors at the schools will be directed to the front, main entrance of the school. This will be the only entrance available to visitors. Video systems will be operational at the schools, so that front office staff members can see all visitors as they approach the building.
• Front office staff members will use access control to permit entry into the schools. School doors will be locked which will require that all visitors use the access control system to be “buzzed in” at the main entrance by office personnel.
• At the front, main entrance to the school, all visitors must press a button on the access control box. Once school office personnel have responded, visitors must state their reason for entering the school prior to being admitted to the building.
• Visitors will then be required to show some form of photo identification. This identification will confirm the visitor’s entrance into the building. Once inside the school, all visitors must go to the school’s main office to sign in for a visitor’s badge. All visitors are required to wear their visitor badge during the entire time they are in the school.

Signs at the main entrance of each school with instructions in English and Spanish will be clearly visible beside the access control box to all visitors as they approach the entrance.

For those visitors who do not have a valid photo identification card, officials at each school will work with individuals to get a photo and issue an identification card to them.

All visitors to these six pilot schools must remember to bring their photo identification with them each time they come to the school. No one will be admitted to the school without proper identification. There will be no exceptions.

Vance Couny Schools is asking for the complete cooperation of everyone in the community as the school system works through implementation of this new system.

(Press Release from VCS)