“You’ve got to know when to hold’em. Know when to fold’em. Know when to walk away and know when to run.” This advice from country singer, Kenny Rogers, makes good guidance for ethical school security consultants as well as school boards, superintendents and other central office administrators or school heads seeking school safety assessment consultation […]
Category Archive: School Safety and Crisis Training
School safety deja vu: Columbine lessons still apply 15 years later
The shooting deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, sent shockwaves across the nation in December of 2012. This was not the first time that educators and safety officials received a punch in the gut and a major wakeup call to assess school security. But the lessons from the first punch still ring […]
Do investigative news reports that test school security cross the line?
Investigative news reporters have been testing school security with hidden cameras since the attack at Columbine High School nearly 15 years ago. But now the reporters are the ones under scrutiny. In a story yesterday entitled, “Undercover TV Reports on School Security Raise Ethical Questions,” the New York Times took an in-depth look at whether […]
Can your principals and security staff access surveillance camera systems?
Can your principals access the surveillance camera systems they are supposed to be able to access from their desktop computers, laptops, or other monitoring consoles? This may seem like an odd question. After all, who would install camera systems with the capability for principals, security staff, and School Resource Officers (SROs) to access and retrieve […]
Training office staff critical to school entrance access control
Many schools are using various door entry systems to aid in visitor screening. Strong access control and visitor management is one important component of a comprehensive school safety strategy. One weakness we consistently see in our security assessment consultations nationwide is in the training of main office and other staff who use the security technology […]
Exercise caution with full scale school active shooter exercises
Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook, we have noticed an increase in first responders, primarily law enforcement, conducting full scale exercises at schools using staff and students. These exercises are also coming under increased scrutiny by the media and broader public, as reported this past weekend in the NBC stories Fake Blood and Blanks: Schools Stage […]
School crisis lockdown plans when students are in restrooms
What do we do about students who are in the restroom when we announce a lockdown? This question is raised often during our school security assessment consulting and training presentations around the country. The issue has several variables schools must prepare for as they develop and refine their emergency guidelines. Don’t leave students stranded in restrooms […]