Hey Daddio,
We serrender our ID when coming in and the front office signs us in. We are then given a nice badge we are asked to wear on campus and you give the badge back to recieve your ID. On field trip days, a list of approved/prearranged volunteers is given to the front office by the dept head of that grade and you check in from that list. If you are there to go on the field trip but not riding with the class, you sign-in as usual.
For the most part, we use the system you are considerning. Parents has a love hate relationship but vendors are impressed as well as our State Board of Education. Having to be buzzed in has prevented many angry parents from just barging in.
So we take it one more notch, anyonecoming into our school is badged in. Even the Pepsi guy and they don't mind.
The best part is kids in the hall see the badge and know that you are "okay" to ask for help. I forgot to put on my badge (I have my own photo badge) a little one asked if I still "worked" at the school or not!
Our badges are done through the same company that does student photo ids. The design is a little different and we wear them as a clip on or I wear mine on a lanyard.
And...we are THE ONLY SCHOOL IN OUR COUNTY that has this much security. ONLY.
Just a heads up that PTO Manager (the web based volunteer management/communication software program provided by PTO Today)has recently added a sign in/sign out module. The program can't force people to sign out, but it will let you know who does not sign out and you can easily send them a gentle email reminder that they need to sign out:)
The other great aspect of PTO Manager (especially over paper logs) is that in case of emergency, someone outside the school (with the right permission level) can log in and see who is at the school and where they are located. They also will be able to see their contact info. For more information about PTO Manager or to test it out for free, go to www.ptotoday.com/manager
Good Luck!
Mike
[ 12-08-2006, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: Mike Schoen ]
We also have a log sheet in the office. People are supposed to sign in and out and wear a name tag while in the school. Many people forget to do so. Our school is kept locked and you can only get in through one door and you must be buzzed in. However, there is always room for improvement.