Schools, which should be safe places for learning and growth, have unfortunately become frequent targets for violence in the United States. Despite the gravity of this issue, however, there remains a lack of cohesive, nationwide strategies to effectively curb this.
In the absence of comprehensive federal-level initiatives, the responsibility for safeguarding public schools falls to individual states and/or local school districts.
But here’s the problem: the only guaranteed protection for a school is making it as secure as a prison, which doesn’t sit well with many people. While it’s necessary to protect students and staff, turning schools into fortresses not only raises concerns about keeping the school climate a welcoming place for learning, but overlooks the necessity of a multi-layer approach when it comes to safety. This leaves school districts facing a tough question: how can they make their campuses and classrooms safer?
The Multi-Layered Approach
A multi-layered approach to school security is used to effectively manage a wide spectrum of threats to elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Each layer contributes distinct solutions aimed at deterring, detecting, delaying, and responding to adversarial actions, particularly if other layers are compromised. A multi-layered approach encompasses:
Physical security
This includes the review and hardening of specific areas of the campus including the overall property, the campus parking lot(s), the building(s) themselves and the building interior, including the classroom.
Property perimeters and parking lots require visible demarcation and physical security measures like fencing and proper lighting. Building perimeters entail categorizing entry points and implementing access control. Classroom security, critical for protecting against internal threats, involves robust door locks, reinforced windows, and optimized layouts.
Learn more about physical security
Policy and Processes
Policy and process addresses the need for everyone to understand their role in an emergency and what they are to do if something occurs. These processes can be within a school campus or across a whole school district.
Processes need to be drilled and audited to ensure that should a situation occur, the best possible outcome can be achieved and should include areas such as visitor access and monitoring, detailed plans for threats, and proper communication processes in place for sharing information quickly and appropriately.
Community Engagement
Community engagement is the final key piece to the multi-layered strategy. This ensures that stakeholders in the community understand their roles and responsibilities. This includes parents, law enforcement and members of the community in general.
It’s important for example, that all the law enforcement responses are coordinated, that parents, faculty and school administrators know what law enforcement needs to effectively manage a situation should it arise.
Parents may also need help understanding and managing the behavioral health of their student children.
By integrating physical security measures, robust policies and processes, and active community engagement, schools can create a comprehensive safety strategy that addresses potential threats from every angle, even in the face of compromised layers.
We’re going to be digging into each of these areas in depth in future posts.
Where to Start?
The importance of prioritizing classroom security lies in its foundational place within the broader framework of school safety. Without adequately secured classrooms, any comprehensive security strategy would be inherently flawed.
Schools should prepare and rehearse lockdown protocols for classrooms in case of emergency or safety issues. Prioritizing strong locking mechanisms on doors, ensuring controlled access, and keeping doors locked is one of the most important areas to focus on. Reinforcing doors and windows with sturdy frames and shatter-resistant glass deters forced entry and can also buy time needed for a response.
Equipping classrooms with communication channels like intercoms or telephones to the front office aids in rapid alerting and monitoring of unexpected visitors. By securing classrooms with robust physical security measures, implementing effective policies and procedures, and fostering a culture of preparedness and vigilance, schools can create a resilient defense against potential threats when other layers have failed.
Getting Help and Resources
For additional resources on addressing school safety, you can review guidelines and materials from our partners at Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS).
You can also get in touch with us directly. We’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.
Downloads
Download this blog, one of the other core blog posts or download the set of six.
Related Links
- LinkedIn Announcement of the TownSteel Pass Partnership: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7171580185274773504/
- LinkedIn Announcement of TownSteel’s new School Safety products: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7169063629105876992/
- TownSteel’s School Safety products overview: https://townsteel.com/school-security/
