Securing Building Entrance Points
Most schools have far too many access points. Not only do they have too many doors, but also in many districts, most of those doors are left unlocked and accessible from the outside. Building principals should minimize the number of daily campus entrance and exit points. Additionally, school entrances and exits should be supervised on a regular basis by individuals who are familiar with the student body.
School safety officials often view the reduction of entrances and exits as a fire hazard. Chaining doors from the inside will certainly create a fire hazard, but the proper use of panic bars on doors does not create a fire hazard since they do not prevent the occupants from leaving the building in an emergency. Another method for communicating the importance of access control is to post a sign on each door indicating the time the doors will be locked.
Some schools have secured all doors from the outside and established one designated entrance point. This designated entrance door is also secured from the outside, and an electronic buzzer, frequently integrated with video surveillance, speaker systems, or both, controls access into the school building. This works particularly well at the elementary level but can be less effective at larger schools because of a significant amount of pedestrian traffic. When using the access control method, principals should always remind teachers of the importance of closing the doors behind them when they enter or leave the building during the school day. A sample memorandum to help remind teachers of their responsibilities for keeping the building secure has been provided.
Exhibit 1-1.12.
The reality is that access control is more an issue of convenience than anything else. Although some parents and visitors will complain about having all doors secured, except for one designated entrance, it is often more of an inconvenience for the staff. If school officials educate parents, staff, students, and visitors of the necessity for access control, resistance should eventually decrease. One method is to inform and educate parents and students about the policy through a school newsletter or student handbook.
(See Exhibit 1-1.13)
Persistent individuals will gain access to the school if they really want to do so. Legitimate users can occasionally leave doors partially open, and in some schools, students will often open doors for visitors. Still, an aggressive effort to control access points should be maintained, and signs should be posted on all doors directing visitors to the main office, along with signs posted throughout the building which indicate the actual location of the main office.
Securing Portable Buildings
Different school designs present different access problems. A large number of districts have portable classrooms, such as trailers or single-story houses that can be moved around on school grounds or from school to school. Whereas portable classrooms meet the overcrowding needs of the district, they also create a significant security concern about unlocked doors, no communications link to the main building, and the need to have students walking back and forth between portables and the main buildings during the school day.
Security measures should be provided for portable buildings that are placed outside the school facility. First of all, portable buildings should be placed in highly visible locations, even though some building administrators would prefer to place portables behind the main building for aesthetic reasons. Another security consideration regarding the placement of portable buildings is that they need to be in locations where they can easily be fenced off from the general public while also ensuring proper evacuation distance in case of fires. If the school district is utilizing a number of portables at one school site, all the portables need to be located somewhat close together so that faculty members can assist each other in case of emergencies. Strict visitation policies should be clearly posted outside the portable area to ensure that visitors report to the main office. All portables should be equipped with an intercom system to the office and should be supervised daily by the administrative staff. Video cameras can also help monitor the outside parameters of the portable buildings during the school day.
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Securing Windows and Classroom Doors Open windows that are accessible from ground level present access control problems. Many schools have adjacent playgrounds where children and youth spend many evenings and late nights. It is not uncommon for children to crawl inside the school through an open window for the purpose of vandalism. To ensure that windows are properly locked, the teachers need to be reminded daily to check windows at the end of each day. This could be accomplished through a school wide end-of-the-day intercom announcement or by distributing an end-of-the day checklist for teachers. The custodial staff can also help by routinely checking windows as a part of their daily classroom maintenance procedure.
Another security concern is that many of the classrooms in today’s schools do not have locking doors, therefore, making it impossible to secure classrooms during teacher-free periods and overnight. An even greater security problem arises during crisis planning, which requires that all classrooms are locked from within in order to prevent intruders from entering.
Additional security measures can be provided for classrooms by reminding teachers not to give their keys to students and to secure (lock) their classroom doors when classrooms are not in use. The authors suggest that building administrators periodically spot check both window and classroom door security. This will do more to raise the faculty’s awareness level than daily reminders or checks by the custodial staff will. In order for schools to maintain top security, an overall program designed to raise staff awareness must be implemented in concert with other access control measures, such as a closed campus at student lunchtime, an appropriately and clearly marked campus, and the limiting and control of building access points. To further help in the security assessment process, the author has provided a checklist to assist principals in evaluating and securing building access points.(See Checklist for Securing Building Access Points)
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Placing Video Cameras at Critical Locations Closed-circuit television (CCTV) provides additional physical security and can be used for detecting and monitoring critical locations within and along building parameters. Because close circuit television is expensive, an economical solution would be to install cameras only at the most vulnerable points of access. These areas would include parking lots, main entrances, lunch facilities, portable building areas, and the backs of buildings where supervision is low. Other useful locations for closed-circuit television are in places where student traffic is high, such as gates, halls, stairwells, and vending machine areas.
Closed-circuit television can minimize the number of security personnel normally needed for checking identification at gates or other designated areas. This type of system requires the utilization of monitoring personnel, which could include parents, trained volunteers, or security staff members. The biggest downfall to this type of security system tends to be the hypnotic effect that the system has on the viewer. Other distractions include gaps in attention and periods when an individual is otherwise occupied with additional activities such as answering the telephone or performing clerical tasks.
One possible solution for providing monitoring personnel is to train a select group of parent volunteers to work at a security desk at the main entrance to the building where the CCTV monitors are located. Schools who have security budgets will be financially able to hire professionally trained security personnel to monitor the CCTV system. To help readers further visualize the layout of a total building security plan that utilizes CCTV devices, the authors have provided.Sample Building Security Plan- Exhibit 1-1.2.
The effectiveness of a CCTV system can be improved with the addition of motion detectors that will activate an audio or visual alarm at the control center when movement is detected within the camera’s area of vision. In addition, a time-lapse videotape recorder can be added at the control center. It can be installed so that it will be activated automatically by the camera’s motion detector or by the monitoring personnel in the control center.
A common problem with CCTV systems is the light intensity required for available cameras. The availability of sufficient light should be verified before the system is purchased and installed. Other factors that must be considered are the initial cost of the system, the cost of maintenance, weather conditions that may hamper visibility, and proper installation requirements. “The following f eatures should be considered for inclusion in a CCTV system:
- Pan/tilt/zoom capability if appropriate
- Closed circuit (non-tube)
- Fixed varifocal or wide-angle lens as appropriate
- Low lux
- VHS time-lapse recorder or multiplexer as necessary
- Color (most cameras for school applications should be color vice black and white particularly where there is a security officer response; this also facilitates identification of persons involved in incidents; black and white cameras may be appropriate in other applications).
- Emergency backup power
- Fast warm-up capability
- Remote adjustment
- Special environmental enclosures or covers that are vandal-resistance
- Moving image sensor” 1
1 Source : Reprinted with permission from J. Barry Hylton, Safe Schools, page 81, 1996, Butterworth-Heinemann.
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Controlling Access to Building Keys
Most schools have not developed efficient control regulations regarding keys to the building. In many cases, key proliferation has been caused by the public’s use of school facilities after school hours. In some schools, keys that have been duplicated, lost, or stolen are often more accessible to students than staff. The reasons for many of the key duplication problems are usually associated with school staff members who are doing favors for various interest groups in the community. For example, band parents may want to have their children practice after school, so they request that the band students be given access to the band practice room.
Some easy solutions for controlling access to building keys can be accomplished through policy development. Key control security is a low budget factor and can be accomplished through a few regulations. These regulations would include a policy that controls the duplication, issuing, and storage of keys. (See Exhibit 1-1.14- Building Key and Lock Control Policy) I also recommend including all keys, locks, padlocks, and other locking devices used to secure the facilities, critical assets, confidential material, sensitive material, or supplies as a part of key regulation development.
The user-friendly mentality can create additional problems for building security, even when all doors have locks. Crime prevention awareness must be established within the school culture in order to make locking cabinets and doors a routine behavior. The building administrator can raise the staff’s awareness by instituting a strong key and building lock regulation policy.
(See Checklist for Key Regulations)
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