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District says Raptor visitor logs are stored in-house and will not be launched until privacy guarantees are received
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Summary
Officials said the Raptor visitor-management subscription will be limited to visitor logging (no license-plate readers), stored locally (not cloud), and the district will require legal assurances before launch; officials also said any law-enforcement requests (including ICE) would go to legal counsel for review.
The South Orange–Maplewood School District told families at a virtual town hall that it will limit the use of the Raptor visitor-management system to in-house visitor logging and will not roll out the product until it secures legal assurances about data sharing.
Paul Morgan, the district’s director of school and community safety, described Raptor as an electronic visitor record that tracks who is in a building, where they are going and the reason for the visit. "We are using just the visitor management, which they do not share that data with anyone else," Morgan said, and added the district is not subscribing to Raptor's license-plate-reader (LPR) services.
Responding to concerns from parents about third-party access and potential law-enforcement queries, a panelist said the district will store visitor logs locally rather than in Raptor's cloud. "We own the data," a panelist said when describing the district's subscription and data-holding arrangement; they added that any law-enforcement request for data, including requests from ICE, would be routed to the district’s legal counsel to determine what may be shared.
Panelists said the district’s subscription is narrowly scoped to visitor management and that it is working with Raptor’s legal team to obtain documentation about data handling. Morgan said if Raptor were to change terms and begin sharing data, the district would sever the relationship.
During the Q&A, the district also said the Raptor module provides advantages over a paper log by enabling appointment scheduling and preparedness for expected visitors. District leaders said logs are stored locally on district systems and reiterated that they will not implement the product until privacy assurances are confirmed.
Officials did not provide a copy of vendor agreements during the town hall and said those materials would be addressed through legal review. The district said it will post further information and FAQs on its website.
