School committee debates badge access for members and visitor check-in; consensus favors limited access

The committee took up a detailed discussion about school-committee badges and whether members should retain badge-enabled access to district buildings. Several members said they rarely use badges and expressed concern about lost badges and the security risk if a badge is found by someone else; others said badges provide an easy visual that a person checked in.

A committee member noted the district policy has historically allowed committee badges to provide access to administration areas during normal business hours rather than around the clock, and that practice appears to remain in effect. A staff member clarified that committee members typically do not have unsupervised access to students and therefore are not generally required to undergo CORI/background checks for that reason.

Several members favored relying on the visitor check-in (Raptor) process when members visit in a parental role and limiting badge access to specific administrative uses; one committee member summarized the sentiment: “The general consensus is we don't need badges. We shouldn't have badges.” The group discussed technical options (deactivating lost badges, phone-based credentials, or other modern access systems) but also cautioned that technology is only part of the solution and that any change requires careful consideration given building usage patterns and community events.

There was no formal policy vote this evening; members asked staff to review current policy and bring recommended options back for a future meeting.