District Administration - April 2009 - (Page 28)

Lessons Learned • Visitor management systems. A growing number of schools are employing visitor management systems to identify and record visitors to schools. While some schools use relatively basic sign-in logs and visitor identification badges, others have invested in technology that allows the scanning of drivers’ licenses to check visitors against sexual offender databases and produce visitor identification cards. • Surveillance cameras. The main entrance of many schools, in particular elementary adapted to schools. Results include reconfigured main entrances that funnel visitors to and through the main office, improved lines-of-sight in hallways, and new washroom designs in elementary schools that feature washbasins positioned outside of the doors leading into separate toilet areas to enhance adult supervision capabilities. Enhanced lighting, intrusion detection systems, and other measures have also received closer attention by school districts in the post-Columbine era. or eliminated over the past decade. School officials also face increasingly limited time for school safety efforts. The academic demands resulting from No Child Left Behind have left school administrators with less time for noninstructional activities, such as the delivery of prevention support services and staff training on school security and emergency preparedness issues. The most challenging obstacle in many school communities is complacency. Time and distance from a major high-profile tragedy breeds complacency and fuels denial. Absent a major school shooting in the news or a politically hot school safety situation, it has become far too easy for day-to-day education activities to overshadow safety, security, and emergency preparedness planning. The result is a mixed bag of many lessons learned and implemented, as well as many remaining gaps in security and emergency preparedness. How schools stack up in school safety best practices varies from district to district and from school to school within each district. It also varies over a period of time and with changes in school leadership and staff. Security Lessons Learned Schools around the nation have beefed up their security in a number of areas. Common strategies for improving physical security include: • Reduced school access. Administrators struggle with maintaining a warm, welcoming and reasonably accessible school for legitimate users while reducing access to school facilities by those with ill intentions. School leaders have reduced the number of doors that can be opened from the outside during school hours, designated main entrances clearly marked by signage, replaced older doors and locks with newer door hardware and locking systems, and installed electronic access control devices such as proximity or swipe card readers. They have also trained students not to open doors for strangers and have trained staff to greet, challenge, and/ or report strangers on campus. 28 April 2009 People will always be the weakest link in school security and emergency plans. The question is, how weak will we allow them to be? schools, are now equipped with cameras and accompanying speakers and electronic door openers to better monitor the schools’ primary entrance points. Cameras often monitor entranceways, hallways, stairwells, and other common areas such as cafeterias and parking lots. Many school districts provide local law enforcement agencies with emergency remote access to their school cameras for potential use in a tactical response situation. School bus cameras help deter misbehavior by those students who can be deterred, and serve as evidence against those who choose to violate school rules and/or the law. • Communications enhancements. Improvements have been made to facilitate classroom-to-office communications, strengthen two-way radio communications capabilities among key administrators and staff, maintain public address systems and speakers, and expedite communications messages from schools to parents in an emergency. A number of schools have enhanced communications links between their schools and local law enforcement. • Renovation and new school design. Many schools now have school renovation and new school construction projects reviewed by security experts. Lessons from the field of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) have been Improved Preparedness The attack at Columbine High School served as the impetus for improvements in school emergency planning nationwide. Emergency planning strategies include: • Crisis teams and plans. Most schools have some type of written crisis plan and school safety/crisis team. • Drills and exercises. Lockdown, evacuation, and shelter-in-place drills have joined traditional fire and tornado drills. First responders are given access to schools to conduct tactical training when school is not in session. • Computerized floor plans and blueprints. Mapping system technology is being used for improved school and firstresponder access in an emergency. • Threat assessment training and protocols. Schools have created threat assessment teams and protocols, trained staff, and partnered with police to better evaluate threats. • Training for professional development. Administrators, teachers and support staff have received professional development training on school security and emergency planning details. • Relationships with community partners. Schools have strengthened proactive partnerships with police, fire, emergency medical services, emergency management agencies, mental health agencies, and other community partners. District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2009

District Administration - April 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Assessment
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Education’s Shot in the Arm
Lessons Learned from Columbine’s 10th Anniversary
An Interview with Columbine’s Superintendent, Cynthia Stevenson
Keeping Track of Technology
Classroom Technology Integration
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Professional Opinion
Research Center
New Products
Product Focus
Online Edge

District Administration - April 2009