Florida Department of Education
he Florida Department of Education published a very comprehensive manual for reducing crimes in schools. It uses Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) strategies to enhance security and reduce violence and vandalism on campuses.
School Planning and Management, 2015
As with most schools, maintenance and operating budgets at Union Grove School District, in Union Grove, WI. were spread pretty thin. Fortunately, Kurt Jorgensen, director of Operations & Facilities at Union Grove High School, found a way to save time and money, while at the same time improving security, by specifying Special-Lite FRP Doors.
School Planning and Management, 2015
There is a relatively simple yet important concept to improve not only the safety of school staff but survivability for all building occupants in certain types of school violence incidents. Though the concept has been around for decades, it is still not in use in many American K-12 schools. Fortunately, architects, school facilities, information technology and safety personnel can help to incorporate the concept in most current facilities and in future school construction projects. This concept is known as the safe or “safer” room. Since the term safer room is often used for tornado sheltering, many people use the traditional term of safe room for spaces utilized during security situations.
School Planning and Management, 2015
The ringleaders gathered a number of students from the senior high school class — enough muscle to lift a car. It was a compact car, but still it was a car. They waited until night and then inched the car up the wall of the single-story high school building. Another group of students waited on the roof. As the car’s front bumper appeared, they lent their strength to the effort and dragged the car onto the roof.
Next, they rolled it across the roof to the edge of the opening for the school’s interior courtyard. Then they pushed it over the edge, crashing it into the open space below.
Paul Timm, president of RETA Security, Inc., a security consultancy with a specialty in school security, tells this story to highlight the importance of complete access control in schools. “This happened back in the mid-1980s,” Timm says. “It’s important because it points out that access control measures goes beyond doors.”
School Planning and Management, 2015
Instant communications quickly turn the media spotlight on any newsworthy event. Negative publicity has resulted in school districts revisiting their commitment and attention to ensure life safety in every way possible. The growing importance of mass notification, inspection reporting and fire protection systems technologies have facilities managers scrambling to keep pace.
Changes in technology can substantially impact the physical systems that protect students, staff and visitors from fires in our schools.
School safety and security are daily concerns that range from classroom management to handling crisis situations. Although schools are generally safe and secure, there are no guarantees that something bad will never happen on your campus. Are you prepared? Being informed means being empowered.
Join us for this webinar where we will provide you with resources and engage in a dialog on:
School Planning and Management, 2015
Access Control is the way an organization manages credentials and the access and egress of staff and visitors on a daily basis. In the event of an emergency, though, access control is not enough. Although this article cites schools in specific, the information covered is pertinent to any organization.
School Planning and Management, 2015
Between 2007 and 2011, the number of fires in educational properties averaged 5,690 per year, according to “Structure Fires in Educational Property,” a September 2011 report by Richard Campbell published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Of those 5,690 fires, 4,060 occurred in nursery, elementary, middle or high schools. So, that means 71 percent of the fires that occur in educational structures occur in preK-12 schools.
School Planning and Management, 2015
School districts often spend security budgets in ways that don’t really enhance security or protect students. “I see many K-12 schools and districts spending money on security — without achieving security or protecting students,” says Charlie Howell, a principal with Division 28 Consulting, LLC, a San Antonio-based school security consulting firm.
School Planning and Management, 2015
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) has two sides, care of the environment and safety of people. Paying attention to EH&S is important to school districts for three reasons. “The first is it protects the people who use your buildings,” says Mike Halligan, president of The Halligan Group, based in Salt Lake City. “The second is complying with EH&S standards reduces your liability if there is an event, such as a fire. Third, we are stewards of the buildings and the environment, and following EH&S standards when building a school is one way a district can be a good community partner.”
