Southampton School District (SHSD) is nestled in the beach village of Southampton, New York. As part of the summer colony known as The Hamptons, it has a mix of middle-income neighborhoods, rural farms, and an affluent estate section.
Over the past decade, I have had the opportunity to lead Stanley Convergent Security Solutions’ Software Solutions Group (SSG); a team of Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco and security product certified professional support engineers with an amazing level of expertise in security system design, installation and support.
An open environment, challenges with funding and many constituents to please: campus security directors and integrators share their challenges with securing these “communities within a community.”
They say that these are the “greatest years” of someone’s life. The college years, the time to figure out a career, make friends and use the valuable time and experiences as the launching pad in which one can continue those “great” years in their 20s, 30s and beyond.
The world of K-12 education brings to mind the archetypal images of playgrounds and lunchboxes, marching bands and football games. But clearly the “dear old golden rule days” of school have not been immune to pressures that are giving security directors greater concern and increased responsibility, even at the lower grade levels.
Security is a top priority for school systems. Nonetheless, it is a reality that funding which provides a safe, secure learning environment often must compete with traditional financing that pays for books and buildings. Fortunately, federal, state, private foundation and corporate grants are available to pay for security programs — if you know where to find them.
As one of the easiest and most economical ways for a school to dramatically improve overall visitor security, a professional visitor management system from EasyLobby is a good safeguard. This includes Watch Lists such as each states’ registered sex offender database that will alert lobby attendants and administrators when someone on this list tries to check into the building. EasyLobby can display results within seconds when a match occurs.
Seemingly every day, there is an incident at the grammar, middle or high school which calls for quick action from a school or district security official as well as clear, fast, accurate communications to the appropriate stakeholders ranging from parents, students, and teachers to law enforcement and the media.