If you plan a visit to Powell High School, you will need your driver’s license because it is necessary to enter the building during certain hours of the day.

Any visitors entering the building are required to use a kiosk at the main entrance and have their driver’s license scanned.

“When visitors come in, they go to the kiosk and then there is a screen on for visitors,” administrative assistant Mrs. Susan Skalsky said. “They click the visitors’ sign and check in. They have to put their driver’s license there and scan it. Their name comes up and it gives their information to make sure it is correct.

“Then when they got the driver’s license to go through, another screen comes up for what they are coming in for, such as a teacher conference, volunteer or whatever they are coming in for. Then they are done and they print a visitor pass in the office and we let them in.”

Visitors will wear a photo badge so the school staff knows if they have checked in or not. If a person is found without a badge, they will be sent to the office.

“Staff and students will know with the badge they have checked in properly to enter the building,” Principal Mr. James Kuhn said.

The state and school require a driver’s license to show the identity of the person and see if there is anything against them.

“The state has talked safety for a number of years so they made funds to put in safety kiosks,” Mr. Kuhn said. “The kiosks register if they have anything against them such as being a sex offender or having a felony, so they are not allowed in the building.

Students who arrive late or take college classes and come in while the doors are locked will not be required to check in at the kiosk.

“Late students will be buzzed in, but they will have to come to the office for a pass to go to class,” Mrs. Skalsky said. “It is the same system for them.”

Senior Emily Sweet is back and forth from the high school to Northwest College all day. She is affected by having to be buzzed in every time she enters the doors.

“I completely understand why the new security crackdowns are in place, but it gets annoying when you have to wait sometimes 5 or more minutes when you are trying to get to a class,” Sweet said. “If they are going to have the doors, they at least need someone paying attention at all times.”

Students think the new check-in helps with security, but the students with college classes also find it irritating.

“It’ll make the school safer because we’ll know who is coming in and out at all times,” Sweet said. “It just becomes sort of a nuisance when kids are coming back and forth on a time crunch for college classes.”

The doors are locked, and everyone will need to be buzzed in between 8:15-10:45 a.m. and 12:45-3:20 p.m..

Visitors do not need to be buzzed in for sports events, concerts or plays as long as they go where they are supposed to go.