New Security System at Sandburg Middle Checks for 'Sex Offenders'

Carl Sandburg Middle School installed a new security system last month that alerts school officials when a registered sex offender enters the building.

The device called "LobbyGuard" checks the name and birthday of all visitors to the building during school hours against the Virginia State Sex Offender registry.

When parents or other visitors enter the school they swipe a government-issued ID against a kiosk, which then prints out a temporary badge granting them access to the school. If a match were to be made against the sex offender registry the individual would receive a badge that states void.

"It's good to know if there is anyone out there who shouldn't be around kids who has entered the building," said Principal Terrence Yarborough. There are currently four people living in zip code 22308 who are registered sex offenders. The ratio of the number of residents in Alexandria to the number of sex offenders is 1,785 to one.

LobbyGuard also allows the school to create a "Red Flag" list of people whose access to a particular student should be limited for other reasons. Yarborough said this might happen in cases where an adult's right to contact a child is under review by the courts.  

School officials can manually verify an individual's identity and allow him or her to enter the school. Teachers and students do not have to get screened through LobbyGuard, nor do visitors who enter the building after 5 p.m. or on weekends.

Other schools have adopted similar security systems, including Mount Vernon High School, said Yarborough.  According to The Washington Post in 2007 schools in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties were considering or in the process of installing comparable security devices.