Sheffield City Schools start school year with new security system

COLBERT Co., Ala. (WAFF) - Sheffield City Schools are back in the classroom on Thursday. Students are ready to learn, teachers are ready to teach and Sheffield City Schools Superintendent, Dr. Carlos Nelson, is ready to keep students safe using new technology.

This new safety technology is called the Raptor System and it uses a visitor’s driver’s license to run an instant background check. The system lets administrators at schools know who is on their campus.

Dr. Nelson said that instructors will also have the ability to send out alerts in the event of an emergency.

“Our staff list will be able to have the lanyard,” Dr. Nelson said. “If there is an emergency, any type of emergency they can push the button give the exact location and get an immediate response for whoever needs to respond.”

New security measures are not the only improvements in Sheffield City Schools. Sheffield High School is having some remodeling done so that its technology can stay up-to-date.

“We are making sure our electrical panels can hold with technology nowadays,” Dr. Nelson said. “Our buildings are older buildings, we are going to have to go in and update our electrical panels. We are updating our electrical panels just to make sure our schools are being 21st-century schools.”

The Sheffield City Schools district is also seeing an increase in its enrollment this year.

Nikki Wright, a mother of four, has two children still in school, she said that in-school learning is a relief for her when it comes to thinking about her children’s education.

“I’m excited. To me the learning that they get in the classroom is a lot better in my opinion than at home,” Wright said. “I feel like my children learn a lot better getting instruction in person.”

Click here to see what other schools will be returning on Thursday along with Sheffield City Schools.

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