Teachers at North Medford High School soon will sport photo identification badges in a move that officials say will make the school safer and more inviting.

The school got a $750 safety grant last year to pay for badges for all workers on campus, said Vice Principal Rick Parsagian.

"The premise is twofold," he said. "It’s so we know who all the adults on campus are and know anybody who doesn’t have a badge isn’t supposed to be here.

"Also, there’s an inviting aspect so students know who the teachers are and who to go to for help."

The district is considering requiring photo badges for all teachers as part of an annual review of its safety plan, said Dan Zaklan, director of personnel and secondary education.

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Lifetouch, a company that takes school pictures, will make the badges using a design North Medford developed, Parsagian said. The badges should arrive next week.

Several elementary schools in Medford, including Howard and Kennedy, have issued photo identification badges that teachers wear on lanyards with their school keys. Hedrick Middle School teachers wear name tags that identify them as staff. All schools require visitors to check in at the office to get a visitor badge.

Howard Principal Trisha Evens said she instituted the ID badges when she came to the school four years ago.

"I had parents and even staff uncertain who worked here," she said. "Now parents can identify who works here and who to approach with questions."

Parents tell her they like the IDs on lanyards, but some teachers don’t like the look of swinging keys and badges that can bump pupils in the head when teachers bend down to help them, Evens said. Those teachers don’t wear the lanyard in class, but put them on when they are outside their classrooms at school, she said.

North Medford math teacher Clag Offutt said some of his co-workers are less than thrilled about wearing badges, although they recognize there is some safety benefit. Teachers generally have enough concerns — crowded classes, shrinking budgets, standardized test scores — without worrying about ID badges.

The district is reviewing its safety plan, which outlines how schools will react in a variety of crises, including earthquakes, tornadoes, nearby plane crashes, chemical spills, hostage takings and school shootings. The review is done annually, said Ernie Whiteman, a school resource officer from the Medford Police Department who works at North and several elementary schools.

Whiteman and other school-based officers in the district received training this summer in school-safety plans. Now he’s helping the district shift from plans for individual schools to a comprehensive districtwide plan that could be shared with other districts.

The updated plan includes responses for disasters that weren’t covered in the past, such as bioterror attacks; additional weather hazards; plane crashes; and terrorist threats, he said.

Officials are also re-evaluating the tools they have to respond to emergencies. For example, many classroom doors only lock from the outside, which could make it difficult to keep kids inside safe in a lockdown situation, said Rich Miles, Lone Pine principal who is coordinating the review. Radios could improve communication if phone and computer networks failed, and surveillance cameras in public areas could help prevent vandalism and theft, Whiteman said.

"For things like that there are safe-school grants," he said, noting that the state and federal government and foundations all have funds available for school safety.

"The things that we would like won’t be a financial burden to the district," which doesn’t have money in its general fund for such safety upgrades, he said.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.