Hampden‑Wilbraham Regional School Committee members discussed badge access, visitor screening and the committee’s existing badge practice at their meeting.

Committee members said current badges allow access to the central office during business hours and that the chair’s badge can access any building. Several members said they seldom use their badge and expressed concern about the responsibility if a badge were lost; others said having an identifiable badge or visitor sticker aids building staff and accountability.

Members discussed the Raptor visitor check‑in process (visitor ID scan and temporary visitor badge) and asked whether committee members must wear badges when visiting schools. A committee member explained that CORI (criminal offender record information) checks are required only for staff or volunteers with unsupervised access to students; committee members in the ordinary course of their duties generally are not subject to CORI, the member said.

On the question of building access, members recalled that committee badges previously provided wider access but were later restricted to central office business hours; members said that change remains in effect. Several committee members suggested the policy should be clarified and reviewed by the policy subcommittee. A range of technological alternatives — temporary visitor badges, phone‑based credentials or camera monitoring — was discussed but no policy change was adopted.

The committee concluded there was no immediate safety incident prompting change, but asked staff to place badge policy language on a future agenda for formal review by the policy subcommittee.