Page 39 - School Planning & Management, November 2017

Washington, D.C., for meetings,” Canady says. “Several of the meetings I attended were in school buildings that had gone beyond basic security and target hardened their buildings.”
Canady describes target hardening as the use of large concrete barricade and bollards around the outside of the school building to prevent vehicles from encroaching on the school building’s space. “You worry about target hardening when you have grave secu- rity concerns,” Canady says. “For instance, one school’s security officers might worry that someone might drive into the building with a bomb in the car.”
Planning for Surpises
How can you plan for surprise problems that you cannot predict? That’s another puzzle for security, because surprises still endanger students.
On the last day of September, this year, for example, a car crashed through the fence surrounding a playground at the Primrose School of Frisco, Texas, near Dallas. The car knocked the fence over and pinned the victims underneath — eight children and adults.
Accidents happen, of course. This one occurred when the driver accidently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.
The unpredictable crash illustrates the importance of school fences. Had there been no fence, the car might have rocketed further across the playground injuring more children and adults.
The crash, of course, also suggests the importance of the layout and design of the school grounds. Perhaps playgrounds and parking lots should be kept far apart.
Back to the school perimeter, fences
at elementary schools and sometimes at middle schools can also discourage or at least slow down anyone who might be plan-
Perimeter secure. The most important reason to secure schools today is to guard against the po- tential for violence. Fences at elementary schools and sometimes at middle schools can also discour- age or at least slow down anyone who might be planning to harm or take a child. Some schools — at all levels — also use fences and gates to protect cars driven by faculty and administrators from vandalism. A disgruntled student, and even an angry parent, may decide to spray paint or deface a teacher’s car. But creating a secure perimeter involves more than building a fence. There are other im- portant parts of a comprehensive physical security plan — cameras, card access systems, ID badging systems for teachers and administrators — that should also be implemented.
While perimeter security is not that expensive, security that requires sophisticated technology and security technicians capable of operating the technology can grow prohibitively expensive.
SPM
ning to harm or take a child.
Security experts note that fences typical-
ly don’t appear around high schools where abductions are not considered a problem. Some schools — at all levels — also
use fences and gates to protect cars driven by faculty and administrators, notes Mark Murphy, PLA, LEED, AP and business development director for Ameristar’s education market. “The issue here is vandalism. A disgruntled student may decide to spray paint or deface a teacher’s car. Angry parents have also been known to damage teachers’ cars.”
“Campuses today need to be secured at all times. If the public or others need to come on campus, they must comply with the school’s protocols,” adds Fiel.
Then, of course, there are other parts of a comprehensive physical security plan including cameras, card access systems
and ID badging systems for teachers and administrators.
While perimeter security is not that expensive, security that requires sophisti- cated technology and security technicians capable of operating the technology can grow prohibitively expensive.
Professionals recommend talking to the police and getting their advice about the se- curity problems faced by the property. Next, hire an experienced security professional
to conduct a security survey that factors in those existing problems. The report devel- oped from such a survey will tell you what you need and how to prioritize the acquisi- tion and installation of the various technolo- gies you may need over several years.
Only the wealthiest school districts can buy full systems all at once. Most spread out the acquisition over several years, buying a few cameras this year and a few more next year, followed by access control technology in coming years. These schools will gradually, step by step, make their buildings and students safer.
While no security system, no matter how comprehensive, can make any facility
perfectly safe, safer is always better.
NOVEMBER 2017 / SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 39
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