School Lockdowns Are Not Obsolete: Why Multi-Option Active Assailant Responses Are Not the Legal Standard of Care

Claims That School Lockdowns Are Legally Obsolete Are Not Supported by the Evidence Are Schools Legally Required to Use Run-Hide-FIght or Other Multi-Option Active Assailant Response Programs? For years, school leaders have been told that traditional lockdowns are outdated and that schools face increased legal liability if they do not adopt multi-option active assailant response […]

Missing the mark: ASIS School Security Standard emphasizes physical security products and tech in schools over student mental health, while posing undue liability and financial burdens

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Ohio school safety policy should be barricaded from politics

A highly emotional controversy is spreading across Ohio over classroom door barricades. Advocates are touting these devices as a way to lock out potential school shooters. They are ignoring the very real dangers created if these barricades are used improperly or fall into the wrong hands. Imagine that your daughter is forced into an empty […]

Are schools wasting limited money on questionable security vendor products?

Since the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School, far too many schools have been looking for the one practice or device that will guarantee school safety. Not surprisingly, many service and product vendors have tried to meet that desire. While few vendors have been successful in meeting that need, a large amount of school safety […]

ALICE Training Institute distances itself from Alabama school’s throwing canned food at gunmen, then reaches out to the school for “positive spin”

Following days of national and international  skeptical media attention and mockery of an Alabama middle school that asked parents to send canned food for students to throw at armed gunmen, the ALICE Training Institute on Friday distanced itself from the controversy before trying to “put a positive spin” on the adverse attention that put a dent […]