District Administration - November 2012 - (Page 59)

badges and are given access privileges only according to their security clearance. In Sarasota, proximity card readers have been installed on 10 sites at key entrances, including the main entrance and gym doors, because right now, it’s not cost effective to do it on every door in the school, Reyka says. In Maryland, Yatsuk says all new construction in the Anne Arundel County schools receives proximity locks. “It’s crime prevention through environment,” Yatsuk says. “Our goal is to get one in every school because it’s much better than handing out keys.” And there are other precautions schools are taking. Many have installed anonymous tip hotlines. Anne Arundel County schools hired The Network, a website that manages an anonymous hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If an urgent tip—like a death threat—is received that is considered a “priority 1” issue, The Network will call, fax and email school safety offi- “It’s crime prevention through environment.” —Robert Yatsuk, supervisor of school security, Anne Arundel County (Md.) Public Schools cials who can then notify the police. “Since we have a great relationship with the police, we can call any time, day or night,” Yatsuk says. For example, Yatsuk may receive a call from an anonymous person that a student is bringing a gun to school tomorrow, he says. A staff member is sent to the school to address the threat and check the student’s mental state. Some tips are false or overblown. Yatsuk says they address them anyway as a preventive measure. Cherokee County schools took a pre- ventive measure by creating a Parental Awareness for Safe Schools (PASS) program, where four times a year, parents and other community members are invited to hear about safety updates and tips to make them more comfortable with any potential safety changes and to help the community be more informed as a preventive measure. “If you are going to look at safety and security, it needs to be responsible, reasonable, and realistic,” Kissel says. “The best laid plans are of mice and men. If you haven’t thought outside the box, you will be given a cookie-cutter process. You need to think about your school and specific situation, like how many doors and windows you have, how many keys lost, etc. Protection isn’t that hard, it just takes time.” DA Dawn Reiss is a freelance writer based in Chicago. Coming next issue! The DA Readers’ Choice DistrictAdministration 100 TOP 2 0 1 2 PRODUCTS Top 100 Products of 2012 www.districtadministration.com/top100 www.DistrictAdministration.com November 2012 59 http://www.districtadministration.com/top100 http://www.districtadministration.com/top100 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November 2012

District Administration - November 2012
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Flipping the Script in K12
Sustainable Professional Development
Brave New World of Teacher Evaluation
Philadelphia’s “Servant- Leader” Superintendent
Enhancing School Access Control
New Products
Professional Opinion
New Directions

District Administration - November 2012