Crime & Safety

New Door Entry Procedure for Manalapan-Englishtown Schools Begins

The changes went into effect on Monday, Jan. 28.

The new Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District's new Entry Door Access Protocol was implemented on Monday, Jan. 28, according to the MERS website

An Emergency Management Team review by district administration and the Manalapan Police Department discussed and reviewed the security of entry into schools and came up with the following to ensure better safety:

1.  No visitors may enter the building with students during arrival.

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2.  To enter the school after the start of the school day, all visitors must have a prior appointment. The names of all individuals with appointments will be given to the office personnel prior to the start of the school day. All visitors without an appointment must contact the office approximately 20 minutes before arriving at the building. This will allow ample time for the secretaries to review school records to verify that the information supplied by the visitor is consistent with information in the district data base regarding individuals who are approved for access (parents/guardians and individuals on emergency contact lists.) Only parents/guardians and individuals named as emergency contacts will be allowed to enter the school building. (This does not include special events which will have separate lists prepared prior to the event.) Parents who are called by the nurse's office or have sent a note to the school with their child in the morning indicating that they will be picking the child up at a specific time do not need to call the office before coming to the building. 

3. At the buzzer, all visitors will be expected to state their names and purpose of visit. Only those individuals who have an appointment or who have been in contact with the office will be allowed into the building. Supplying the required information at the time the individual uses the buzzer will not be acceptable and will not lead to entry. 

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4. Once buzzed in, all visitors must immediately report to the main office. 

5. Visitors will be required to show photo identification and sign in prior to receiving a visitor's pass. 

6. If an individual does not immediately report to the main office, it will be considered trespassing and the Manalapan Police Department will be contacted.

These procedures will be modified over the next few weeks. A possible addition to the protocol may include methods for parents to drop of certain materials, such as lunch or homework, to their chilren at school without having them enter the building, the statement on the MERS website explains.

The Board of Education will view a presentation which showcases a new web-based visitor management system that allows parents to schedule visits online and allows for real-time reviews of district selected databases by driver's license checks. These databases would include sex crime offenders and people with restricted access through court order.


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