New Visitor Rules At Madison High School

MADISON, NJ — Madison High School has announced several new visitor policies, including banning forgotten item drop-offs. The new rules are designed to make schools safer, and increase the screening process at the door.

"The new protocols are designed to improve the identity verification process and ensure that all visitors have legitimate school business to conduct before being admitted in the building," principal Greg Robertson said in a letter shared on the district's website. "We recognize that these new protocols may cause some inconvenience to people visiting the high school, but the safety and security of our students and staff are of paramount importance."

Effective April 17, all visitors to the school must have an appointment. This means parents will no longer be allowed to drop off forgotten items, like lunch or sports gear, Robertson said.

"We apologize for this inconvenience, but it is necessary in order for us to successfully monitor visitor access. For those students who may have forgotten their lunch, they may stop by the main of ice to make arrangements to receive lunch from the cafeteria," Robertson said.

A five step procedure for visitors will be put into place. Here's those rules, as written by Robertson:

1. All visitors must have a previously scheduled appointment with a staff member in order to be admitted into the building.
2. Staff members will be required to notify the main office of the name of the visitor and the time of their scheduled appointment. Scheduled visitations will be recorded on a list accessible to secretaries and administrators.
3. Secretaries in the main office will conduct an initial screen of visitors through the call box at the front entrance of the school. A visitor’s name must be recorded on the list before gaining access into the building.
4. Once admitted into the building, visitors will be required to sign in at the front desk and show a government issued form of identification (i.e. Driver’s License). The visitor will then be directed to the main office where they will be required to leave their identification and be issued a visitor’s badge. Visitors must return their badge prior to leaving the building in order to get their identification returned.
5. The staff member who has made the appointment with the visitor must come to the main office to meet the visitor and escort them to the meeting location.

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