Minimizing Human Error or Oversight in the Prevention of School Violence

• Designate a school staff member with overall responsibility for the coordination for emergency preparedness, safety, and security.
• Implement a designated and trained interdisciplinary school threat team.
• Provide comprehensive school security focused training for school teachers and support staff.
• Implement an updated Safe Schools Plan or Emergency Operations Plan addressing emergency preparedness and response.
• Train school teachers and support staff on the Incident Command System.
• Implement an anonymous reporting system in place for reporting suspicious behaviors and incidents.
• Employ a well-publicized school ‘See Something, Say Something’ program.
• Develop and implement an effective bullying conflict management program.
• Ensure a regularly updated (every 1-2 years) school security assessment by a competent and skilled assessor.
• Adopt appropriate measures to mitigate identified security deficiencies in a timely manner.
• Employ a standard work order process that includes prioritization for security associated issues.
• Train school employees to recognize school security deficiencies and report them in a timely manner.
• Ensure adequate key management and control policies and procedures, including authorization and recovery of keys and response to loss of keys.
• Conduct a comprehensive school key audit, at least annually.
• Conduct regularly scheduled exterior lighting surveys.
• Conduct an annual school landscaping survey.
• Conduct periodic three-step exterior testing of perimeter school doors and hardware to ensure doors latch and lock properly and the timely repair of any deficiencies.
• Provide school floor plans to local police and other first responders.
• Conduct periodic building tours with local law enforcement and other first responders
• Provide an emergency school locker for responding law enforcement containing breaching tools, a sledgehammer, school floor plans, master keys, etc.
• Provide law enforcement and other first responders with override access credentials for electronic access-controlled doors (due to lockdown).
• Conduct periodic tabletop exercises with school staff, law enforcement and other first responders.
• Conduct lockdown drills and emergency evacuation exercises.
• Conduct active shooter/assailant training and drills.
• Critique existing lockdown drills, emergency evacuation exercises and active shooter/assailant training and drills.
• Provide parents/guardians with re-unification locations.
• Ensure timely response to perimeter door alarms.
• Install a uniform door number on both sides of classroom and other room doors and the windows of first floor classrooms.
• Ensure effective Wi-Fi communications and voice communications (intercom) throughout the entire school.
• Ensure the operational effectiveness of law enforcement and other first responder voice communication systems inside the school.
• Confirm consistent compliance with school visitor access control policies and procedures.
• Maintain control of attendees at school events that restrict access to teachings areas.
• Implement tactics to prevent tailgating on electronic access-controlled doors.
• Have an updated ‘persona non-grata’ list including persons with court-ordered restraining orders.
• Implement a School Security Committee to help support all aspects of school security.

ACPI offers more on this topic and many others in a comprehensive School Security and Design seminar, focusing on the prevention of weapons violence in schools, and School Security Assessments, focusing on conducting effective school security assessments in K-12 schools. For more information on these certification courses visit us at acpionline.com.