School employees identified with badges

Gracie Leval has some advice for Carson City children who may be approached by a stranger claiming to be a teacher: Look for an identification badge.

"I would tell them if they're not wearing a name tag, they should run away," 10-year-old Gracie said. "They could kidnap you."

A new policy this year requires all school employees to wear photo identification badges to improve security.

"We're getting to be a large enough organization where all people who work for the district are not recognizable," said Richard Stokes, associate superintendent in charge of human resources. "It helps all of us be aware of who is on the campus and if they are authorized to be there."

Fritsch Elementary School Principal Dave Aalbers said the badges are an addition to measures already established to promote safety, including disposable visitor badges, which change color daily.

"Parents entrust their children to us and we honor that trust," he said. "We are in this business because we love children."

Manuel Rosas, a sixth-grader at Carson Middle School, also supports the plan.

"If someone pretends to be a teacher, they might take the kids and kill them or do bad things to them," he said. "If they don't have a badge, the kids will know they're not really a teacher."

Stokes said others including volunteers, vendors and substitutes will also be issued badges to verify their authorization to be on a school campus.

Employees from Bordewich-Bray and Fremont elementary schools and from the transportation, grounds and administration departments already have received their badges.

Other employees are to be photographed during the next three weeks.