Building Access by Employees - November 2004 Revision

District buildings will customarily be opened, closed and secured only by the designated building manager, assigned custodian or another district employee specifically designated to perform those functions.  The building manager may allow other employees to apply for access privileges and building keys under certain circumstances that are beneficial to the district and or the operation of the building in question.  Any employee granted access privileges is required to enforce and abide by all district policies and procedures regarding the use of the building and any equipment therein.

Building Manager Designation of Access Privileges

At the beginning of each academic year the building manager will submit a roster to the Albuquerque Public Schools Police Department of any employee who is authorized access to that building site while the building is locked but during normal access hours.  The building access forms along with emergency contacts are due at the school police department no later than September 30th of each year.  These forms can be downloaded from the APS website under the School Police Department.

Normal Access Hours

Normal access hours for district facilities are defined as 5:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday thru Friday.  Alarm are disengaged at all sites by the dispatcher at 5:00 am Monday through Friday, eliminating the need for a call at each site.  Request for building access after normal hours must be approved by the Superintendent or their designee.

Employees authorized to access their sites on weekends may only do so from 9:00 am 4:00 pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Exceptions:

• The Superintendent’s team, principals, directors, custodians, maintenance and operations, and KANW.
• High Schools:  Because of the number of activities, High Schools are exempt from this policy.
• School Activities: Building access hours may be extended by the site administrator for activities such as parent conferences, PTO meetings, Church groups, etc. or any other activity needing extended hours.
• Building access is denied on the following holidays: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and New Years Day.

Call In Procedures

An employee who is entering the building during normal access hours but when the building is locked must call the APS Police Department before entering the building.  The employee must provide the dispatcher their employee number, exact areas of the facility they will be entering and an estimated time they will be leaving the facility.  Employees who are not on the authorization roster provided to the APS Police by the site administrator will not be granted access to the building.

Employees are prohibited from accessing facilities for personal reasons. 

It is mandatory that the employee call the APS Police Department if they are staying longer than the time they gave as their estimated time out to extend their estimated time out.

It is mandatory that the employee call the APS Police Department when they leave so the alarm may be reset.

Sanctions

A building manager may remove key holding privileges from any employee who violates this procedure.

Employees who fail to follow this procedure and as a result APS Police is dispatched to an alarm are subject to:

• First Offense - The employee will be given a verbal warning
• Second and Subsequent Offenses - The employee’s keys will be confiscated and the employee will be removed from the building.  The confiscated keys will be held at the APS Police Department and must be picked up by the site administrator or their designee.

An employee who abuses building access privileges or who repeatedly violates this procedure may be subject to disciplinary actions as outlined in human resources policy.

Cross Reference:

• Board Policy E.01

NSBA/NEPN Classification: ECAB

Approved: March 1998
Reviewed: January 2001
Revised: November 2004

This page was last updated on: December 9, 2009.