The program pairing school resource officers and mental health clinicians has been introduced in the wake of violence in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.
Surveyed facility managers cite campus access control, site security and occupant safety as key focus areas
July 22, 2021
According to a report released by Honeywell, 93% of surveyed facility managers within the education vertical say they have experienced at least one emergency incident stemming from infrastructure malfunction during the last 12 months, and 43% report a physical site or cybersecurity breach in that time. Nearly half (45%) say they rank site security (video surveillance and campus access control) or fire and life safety systems as a top priority over the next 12 to 18 months.
Many schools are adopting technology solutions, specifically around student engagement, behavioral health, and safety mood monitoring technology to address students’ needs. These tools can help schools improve their ability to properly identify any students that may be struggling, as well as support all students through the process of acclimating to a new routine.
“Today, your child’s school will have an active shooter drill.” This seemingly simple sentence has become a source of contentious debate across the United States in recent years. Despite the rarity of mass shootings occurring at school, approximately two-thirds of parents of teenagers express worry about a school shooting, according to Pew Research.
Chief of Police and founder of Armour College, Richard McCann has been responsible for leading the college’s response to the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, immediately putting policies and medical screenings into place, acquiring personal protective equipment (PPE), and distributing medical information to staff and students on all campuses to ensure appropriate safety and health protocols at the college.
Chief of Police and founder of Armour College, Richard McCann has been responsible for leading the college’s response to the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, immediately putting policies and medical screenings into place, acquiring personal protective equipment (PPE), and distributing Center of Disease (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other relevant medical information to staff and students on all campuses to ensure appropriate safety and health protocols at the college.
Director of Security for the Pojoaque Valley School District in New Mexico, Gary Johnson has taken a lead role in implementing COVID-19-related screening procedures, safety and security plans, and reopening protocols, but more importantly, he’s placed a focus on supporting students, staff and community members.
Gary Johnson is much more than Director of Security for the Pojoaque Valley School District in New Mexico. He’s in charge of safety and security, transportation and more, but his most important role is supporter, with this role becoming even more prominent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It seems that every day there’s a new story about a security lapse, emergency lockdown, or violent act taking place at a school somewhere in the United States. Today it’s simply inexcusable not to have adequate security measures in place—regardless of how safe you think your community may be. In School Security: How to Build and Strengthen a School Safety Program, Second Edition, Paul Timm, board-certified Physical Security Professional, nationally acclaimed expert in school security, and recipient of Security magazine's 2020 Most Influential People in Security, explains how to make your institution a safer place to learn with easy-to-follow steps.
The reality is that most institutions of higher learning have decided to open their campuses this fall regardless of the political rancor, adding the specter of a deadly pandemic to an already challenging campus security environment where campus shootings, physical violence to women and theft usually occupy the top threat metrics for college security administrators. Because college and university campuses have thousands of students and faculty traversing a wide swath of buildings all day, every day, having an access control solution that not only addresses the security aspect of this population, but now one that must also handle myriad safety and health concerns due to COVID-19 to lessen the likelihood of the virus spreading, is a top priority.
Now more than ever, K-12 leaders are faced with the need to implement security solutions and strategies that adequately protect students, staff and visitors from potential threats. Growing incidents, such as school shootings, unauthorized visitors and disease transmission, can put occupants in harm’s way, making security a persistent need. Schools now have the opportunity to use and expand on existing building technologies to address evolving needs while providing greater protection and peace of mind.
As the pandemic continues to unfold, many schools have chosen to conduct classes virtually rather than in-person and school buildings have been left empty for durations longer than ever before. With less staff consistently working on school grounds, it can be easy to miss a potentially costly and time consuming emergency. Situations like a leaking pipe or a malfunctioning freezer can quickly go from a minor issue to a major problem if not dealt with as soon as possible. Without physical eyes on these situations, schools need to consider leaning more heavily on technology that can be their eyes and ears, such as environmental monitoring technologies that can allow administrators to monitor their school at all times, even when they’re not on-site.