No one could have imagined having such serious discussions about school safety as the ones that take place today. While it’s a sad and troubling thing to deal with, it’s necessity is undeniable and tragically becoming a main topic across the nation. Schools and school districts have a considerably important responsibility to protect students, faculty, and staff, and while some don’t have an enormous budget that helps offset the cost of deployment of expensive equipment and systems, there are some slightly more affordable and easy ways to help mitigate some threats. Visitor management is one such thing that all schools can improve, and some of the fixes are even free. Here’s a checklist we’ve come up with, if your school is considering bolstering safety.
- Create photo ID cards for all staff and students.
- Require ID’s be wore visibly around the neck on a lanyard so it’s easy for staff and students to see.
Custom lanyards help color-code a type of user by allowing you to imprint a word. For example, a green lanyard with the words ‘Student” in white would be easier to see and identify. - Use ID cards to limit access to library, or even check out materials.
- Have a mandatory checkpoint for visitors,contractors and volunteers.
- Assign “Guest” badge to visitors that must be turned in prior to departure or use a self-expiring badge that voids itself after a number of hours.
- Have a clear protocol for how students can be picked up during school or after school hours.
- Make sure unused rooms are not accessible until needed, and even control access with ID cards.
- Email or SMS notifications for families.
- Controlled access to Wi-Fi, with updates to passwords being done regularly.
- Student education on safety procedures when an intruder is on the campus.
These are merely a few ideas and a way to get your school thinking about the various options that are available to improve your school’s security. While it won’t mitigate all risk, it’s a smart step in the right direction. If you have questions about some good solutions for your campus, please give us a call.