Page 38 - School Planning & Management, November 2017

SAFETY&SECURITY ALL ROUND SCHOOL SECURITY
Encircling a Campus
and a School with Security
According to Fiel, securing a school building and its grounds begins by draw- ing three circles on a map of the commu- nity and the school.
“Draw a circle around the school at a one mile radius of the building,” Field says. “This is the school’s community. What happens in this community can affect school security.
“Next, draw a circle around the boundar- ies of the campus, taking in the school and any outbuildings as well as parking lots and sports fields. These areas, of course, all lie within the school’s responsibility.
“Finally, draw a circle around the building itself.
“In developing a school security plan,
I look at these three circles — or perim- eters — and think about what could affect school security along each circle.”
What can school security people can do about problems that might exist between the one-mile circumference inward to the school grounds? Not a thing. That is a com- munity policing task. Still, it’s important to know what problems exist there because those problems will affect the security plan for the perimeter of the grounds and the perimeter of the school.
Local police can and will provide information about issues that can affect a
school, while also making suggestions to secure the grounds and the buildings in re- sponse to those problems. School security experts all recommend talking at length with the authorities, getting their advice and taking it to heart.
“I think it is easier to control access into the school building than to the campus,” says Canady. “Some schools are in urban environ- ments without a lot of land around the school, the playing fields and the parking areas.
“If you have crimes happening in those exterior areas — the parking lots and play- ing fields, you might want to increase adult presence there — as opposed to putting up a tall, sturdy fence, which from a psycho- logical point of view might make students, teachers and parents uncomfortable.
Securing the Building
In a relatively crime free suburban neighborhood, the front door might be left unlocked. Still, experts recommend staffing the front door with an adult who will ask visitors about their business and escort them to the office to get a visitor’s pass
that will have to be displayed at all times. Other doors on the side of the building and into special areas such as the gymnasium, should be locked after the school day begins.
Other schools might lock their front doors as well. Legitimate visitors will ap- proach the front door and gain admission
through one of two different processes. First, the visitor might press a buzzer
that will alert people in the main office, which is located away from the front door. A video camera will enable office personnel to see who wants to come in, and an audio link will enable a two-way conversation in which the visitor will reveal the nature of his or her business.
If the administrator decides to admit the visitor, someone from the office will go to the front door and let the individual in and escort him or her to the office to get an ID badge and pass describing where the individual may go.
Other schools may place a staffed visi- tor management booth at the front door. Staffing such a booth, of course, can be expensive but it will make it easier for visi- tors and for the administration.
Once the badge has been issued by either system, the administrator may decide the visitor needs an escort to his or her destina- tion. A known, trusted visitor, who is famil- iar with the building, may go it alone.
Of course, the most important reason to secure schools today is to guard against the potential for violence that U.S. society, including schools at all levels, has encoun- tered too often in recent years. “We don’t like to think about it, but people seem will- ing, today, to commit violent acts for the sake of committing violent acts,” says Mo Canady, executive director of the Hoover, Ala.- based National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO).
“We want to do everything we can to pro- tect students, faculty and staff,” continues Canady. “Still, we want to be as reasonable as we can — we don’t want to turn schools into prisons. We have to strike a balance here, and it is a tough balance to find.”
One reason that it is a tough balance to create is because there are surprises that no one can predict. Shootings are no longer surprising, and most schools have begun to take steps to protect against them.”
Schools in tough neighborhoods in major urban areas must emphasize security over balance. “I recently visited schools in
38 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / NOVEMBER 2017
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