Guest article by Chuck Hibbert The American Society for Industrial Security – ASIS International – has developed an in-depth position paper presented as an ASIS School Security Standard for what they describe as K-12 schools. While we can assume most of the ASIS standard contributors have good intentions for school safety, the paper shows a […]
Category Archive: Legislation and School Safety
Counter-Argument: Reevaluating the Necessity and Effectiveness of the New ASIS School Security Standard
Guest article by Dr. Stephen Bucheli Bayne While the recent ASIS proposed standards for school security are positioned as a necessary advancement for ensuring safer educational environments, several critical aspects warrant reconsideration: Overemphasis on Physical Security Measures: When implemented properly by local collaboration, physical security measures can enhance the protection of school buildings and their […]
ASIS School Security Standard: The Missing Link with School Safety Standards on Local School Boards
Guest article by Bobby Kipper of The Kipper Group As we continue to witness the growth of proposed national school safety standards for campuses across the United States, we need to examine the cause and impact on local school divisions. While the intentions of all involved are clearly in what is believed to be in […]
Concerns Over ASIS School Security Standard: A Need for Balance Between Physical Security and Behavioral Threat Assessment
Guest article by Jason Russell, Founder and President of Secure Environment Consultants (SEC). The recently released school security standard developed by ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) has prompted concern among educators and mental health professionals due to its heavy focus on physical security measures like cameras, locks, fences, and panic buttons, while offering comparatively […]
ASIS School Security Standard: Heavy on security hardware, products, and technology mandates — and heavy on potential financial and liability burdens for school leaders.
Are you a superintendent, school board member, or principal who does not want to be blindsided by school security mandates, financial burdens, and potential liability? If so, you will want to learn about a new maneuver, largely driven and influenced by security consultants and vendors, to create a “school security standard” that has potentially significant […]
Growing legal school safety mandates and proposed consultant/vendor-driven school security “standards” may mean well, but many create unrealistic mandates that are impossible for schools to comply with
Sheriff Grady Judd, a Commissioner on the Florida school safety commission created after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (Parkland) school shooting, said last week that a new law requiring classroom doors to be locked when students are present is impossible to comply with without exceptions and the validity of the exceptions can be difficult […]
Panic over panic buttons, guardians galore, and other school safety “legislation by anecdote”: Why lobbying based upon single incidents and high-profile tragedies does not necessarily make good school safety law.
Several state legislatures have passed laws requiring schools to have panic buttons or similar emergency alert systems, often dubbed “Alyssa’s Law” based upon advocacy by a Florida parent who lost her daughter in the Parkland school shooting. A number of states have passed laws requiring all schools to have police officers or armed “guardians.” There […]
School security is being sold to the highest bidders. Private equity and venture capital investors are hijacking the school safety field. Will a passion for profits overshadow a passion for school safety?
Follow the money. If you are a superintendent, school board member, or principal you should follow it very closely when it comes to school safety, or you may lose control over decisions about safety in your schools. Private investors are increasingly taking control over the school safety industry Private investors increasingly have their eyes set […]
Cell phones and school safety: They are often disruptive to the educational process and can create unsafe conditions in an emergency. Yet many students and parents want them. Now, some politicians want to ban their use in schools.
Teachers find that cell phones create classroom distractions. School administrators find they accelerate bullying and conflicts. However, many students — and some very vocal parents — often feel they are essential to school safety. But are the cell phones an emotional security blanket for parents even more than a security tool for students? Some now […]
School security vendors are spending millions for lobbyists to pressure state legislators to provide taxpayer dollars for products and tech they sell — whether or not it is what superintendents and school boards really need and can sustain
Dear Superintendents and School Boards: Your state legislators are providing you the “best” school security that money can buy — money lobbied for by school safety vendors’ lobbyists, that is! Plus, it will be up to your school district to find the funds to repair, replace, and/or sustain whatever you get once the vendors make […]