Page 24 - Campus Security & Life Safety, November/December 2020

"The assessment should address the longstanding
daily challenges that K-12 schools face, from
smoking and fighting, to theft and vandalism, to
the active shooters and new health safety issues By Bill Brennan
brought to light by COVID-19." The New Curriculum
Administration now faced with new solutions for maintain health safety
Campus Safety
Tom Wang/Shutterstock.com
School security has taken on a new dimension as the result of the 2020 pandemic. Whereas school administrators have tradition- ally been concerned with maintaining high levels of physical security to protect students, staff and property, they are now faced with implementing new solutions that also help maintain health safety. This has stimulated a heightened demand for new tech- nologies and system solutions that deliver both security and health safety, further complicating the already difficult task that K-12 schools face when looking to procure and implement new security technologies.
As with any public or private facility, school administrators need to implement proactive measures to assess external and internal threats, so they can detect them and hopefully prevent them from evolving into critical events.
A detailed threat assessment will allow them to create a systematic plan that includes standard operating procedures supported by the right combination of physical security technologies that best fulfill their specific needs. The assessment should address the longstanding daily challenges that K-12 schools face, from smoking and fighting, to theft and vandalism, to the active shooters and new health safety issues brought to light by COVID-19.
Yet, it is important to note that the same technologies applied for security and health safety applications aren’t all centered around threats, as they can also be used as an administrative tool for opera- tions and facility applications such as graduation and academic cer- emonies, sports events, concerts and dances and on-campus traffic management.
24 campuslifesecurity.com | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020