Visitors to Our Schools
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Our district encourages parents/guardians, as defined by Florida Statutes, and other approved visitors to visit our schools. The principal in conjunction with district Security and Emergency Management will regulate visits both within the school and on campus for purposes of security and to ensure that visitors do not interrupt the instructional program or violate other school or district policies.
Any person entering the premises of a school shall enter through a single point of entry designated by the administration in conjunction with district Security and Emergency personnel, report to school’s reception desk, and make known the purpose of the visit prior to making further entry into the school.
All visitors shall sign-in and receive clearance to enter at the reception desk through the Raptor system, comply with all visitor management requirements throughout the duration of their visit, and follow the procedures as described by the administration in conjunction with district security and emergency management. Perspective visitors will be denied entry if a lawful reason to deny entry exists.
Photo identification is required.
Any individual considered a non-student must obtain administrative clearance prior to entering the building.
A visitor badge will be issued to those persons who have legitimate business with the school. Persons without a visitor badge are subject to trespass violation and possible arrest.
Visitors must receive approval from the principal in advance to observe in a classroom.
Hillsborough County Public Schools uses the RAPTOR system to screen visitors to our campuses. This system checks each visitor against the National Sexual Offender and Sexual Predator registry. All non-except persons wishing to visit our campuses are required to be screened in RAPTOR.
What to Expect
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Please be prepared to provide government issued/other acceptable/credentialed identification prior to entering the campus.
Visitors/general public guests are required to sign-in at the MAIN OFFICE upon arrival to any campus.
All visitor must wear visitor badge or credentials the entire time while on campus.
Visitors are required to return to the MAIN OFFICE and sign-out at the end of their visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Why do I need to provide identification to schools or HCPS facilities?
Our goal is to keep everyone safe by having a single point of entry and identifying who is entering our campus at all times.
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What is the Raptor Visitor Management System?
- The Raptor system provides a record of who is in our schools/sites in case of an emergency.
- Once granted access onto the campus, the Raptor system is another visitor management safe guard that enhances school security by reading visitor drivers’ licenses or other forms of government issued identification, comparing the information to a national sexual offender and sexual predator registry, alerting school/facility administrators if a match is found.
- All visitors and volunteers visiting a HCPS school or facility will need to sign-in using the district’s visitor management system, Raptor by providing a driver’s license, state ID, passport, or other form of government issued or acceptable photo identification showing proof of name, picture, and date of birth (this can be from any state or country).
- Credentialed visitors (such as district employees, DCF, non-emergency law enforcement) will provide their credentials only at the time of sign-in.
- Vendor/Contractors are required to provide both the blue (state issued) and yellow (district JLA) badges to be allow entry on campus while students are present.
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What happens if a match to my information occurs?
Sexual predators or sexual offenders may have occasion to visit a school (i.e. relative of a student, attending a school event, etc.) or have business at a facility. Please provide your information and, when asked, take a seat and wait for an administrative approval. They may ask questions about your visit. When approved, a badge will be printed and an HCPS escort will be assigned to stay with you during your visit to the school or facility. In some cases access my be denied if a lawful reason exists.
