Prince William County Public Schools Welcomes Visitors
Visitors include parents, citizens, invited speakers, observers from colleges, salespersons, news media, volunteers, coaches from other schools, and tutors. School division employees not regularly assigned to a given facility are also considered visitors and shall report to the appropriate office and follow all sign-in procedures. However, there are safety precautions that must be followed by all visitors.
Visitor Requirements
All visitors shall be required to report to the main office of the school or school division facility, provide and leave a valid government photo identification, and state the nature of their visit. Visitors must produce one of the following forms of valid government issued identification, containing a full name, date of birth, and photograph:
- U.S. or foreign driver's license;
- U.S. or foreign government identification;
- Military identification;
- Department of Motor Vehicles' photo identification;
- Passport;
- Permanent Resident Card (Green Card);
- Re-entry permit; or
- Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) identification.
The visitor identification badge or the PWCS employee photo-identification badge must be worn in a manner, which makes them readily visible to students and staff in the school division facility. Upon completion of business in the facility, the visitor shall report to the office to return the visitor identification badge, and collect their photo identification before exiting the facility. Each school division facility shall have a procedure to inform visitors and staff of the visitor identification badge requirement.
The only visitors to schools or division facility that are NOT REQUIRED to obtain a visitor's identification badge are:
- Law enforcement officers and other emergency service providers (e.g., fire fighters, EMS), when in uniform and/or are prominently displaying their badge of authority, are not required to obtain a visitor's badge or surrender an ID, as their identity is clear. Law enforcement officers and other emergency service providers must sign-in on the "Visitor Sign-In Log," except in emergency situations.
- PWCS Supply Services' delivery personnel are only required to sign in on the visitor's log when they are going beyond the main office or loading dock.
- PWCS Food and Nutrition's supervisory personnel are only required to sign in on the visitor's log when they are going beyond the cafeteria or loading dock.
Visitors who are unable to provide an acceptable form of identification for staff to enter in the Visitor Identification System shall meet with a building administrator or school security immediately. Any visitor with a legitimate educational purpose shall be granted access for said purpose, but are subject to any conditions imposed by the PWCS facility.
Please view Regulation 926-1, "Visitor Identification" for additional questions regarding visitor badges.
After Hours
Regulation 926-1 regarding "Visitor Identification" requires that schools collect and keep visitor IDs which are returned when the visitor leaves the building. The only exceptions to keeping IDs are for employees of that school, certain supply services delivery staff, and law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties.
We do from time to time have school visitors who are still in the building for meetings or programs after the VIS assigned staff have left for the day. In these cases the visitor ID has been secured, making it difficult for the visitor to retrieve the ID before leaving the building.
To ensure that visitors possess their ID before the last VIS administrator leaves, schools should make every effort to return those IDs to visitors shortly before the VIS administrator who has access to IDs leaves. Visitors should be advised to continue to wear the visitor badge while still in the building.
This is a necessary step to take as a high percentage of IDs proffered are driver's licenses. Visitors are required by law to have a driver's license in their possession while operating a motor vehicle.
We appreciate your cooperation with this procedure. Please call Security and Crisis Readiness at 703-791-7206 if you have any questions.