ROCK HILL, S.C. -- A laptop computer is the first thing visitors to Rock Hill schools will see when they stop in at any campus. It's there to make sure that if you're going into a school, you're not a sex offender.

As of this week, all 25 Rock Hill schools have the Waypoint Visitor Management System in place.

School Spokeswoman Elaine Baker said with so many visitors, volunteers, mentors and others at schools, it's something that's needed.

"We have always had an open-door policy. So there are people that would just show up for various reasons," Baker said.

When you walk into any school building, you type your name into the laptop. The computer checks your name against the federal sex offender registry, and then prints out a stick-on visitor tag that you must wear while you're in the school.

If the visitor is a sex offender, they're told they can't be in the school. If the sex offender is a parent, they can only visit their child and could be supervised by the principal.

On Tuesday night all Rock Hill school district parents received an automated phone call at home telling them the system is now in place.

"It just basically said to make students safer they're doing a new program, and every time you check in it will do a background check," said mother Tracy Gladstone.

Gladstone has two children in Rock Hill schools. She said it will probably make students safer, but it could deter some parents from getting involved.

"The school board wants parents to be so involved in things. I just think maybe some might feel a little threatened by that and not want to come in," she said.

Rock Hill is the first and only district in the state using the Waypoint system. Five other districts use similar computer-based systems, but they don't link to the sex offender registry.

Baker said 3,000 people applied to the district last year to be mentors and volunteers. They all go through background checks, but this system is just another level of protection. She said there was no specific incident that prompted purchasing the system.