Foundational School Security Processes

Physical security tools available to a school are only as successful as the processes to effectively implement them. There are basic operational processes that are indispensable to a worthwhile school security posture.

Utilizing a multi-disciplinary safety team based in a continual improvement model, is a critical need for an effective planning process.The team should include a designated leader with both responsibility and authority for the school security effort and representation from across your school community, including from school governance, administration, teachers, parents, students and educational support staff. The planning process is more than foundational. It is the bedrock that your foundational security planning rests on.

A functional visitor management process commonly applied with a high level of fidelity is a necessity. The basic physical security elements of securable space are only meaningful when coupled with a process to identify and control the management of all visitors to your school. Without this, even well-designed security measures lose their ability to protect students and staff.

An evidence based, clinically vetted, and effective Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) is required. The BTAM process is a generally recognized best practice using, a multidisciplinary, fact-based, systematic process to identify, assess, and manage potentially dangerous or violent situations in both the school and digital environment. The process will help your schools distinguish between incidents where a student exhibits concerning behavior or made a threat that is not legitimate (with no intent to harm) and other incidents in which the student does pose an actual threat. In all cases, the goal is to pair the student with proper school and community-based intervention and support.

An immediate response protocol is a necessary component. The protocol should have a limited number of responses to address the widest possible number of potential threats and be designed to quickly move a school community from normal educational operations to a safer and more secure condition. Such a program must be options based, easily deployable, trainable and sustainable. Additionally, a documented, trained process to effectively return the students to an authorized adult post incident should be included and be the first elements in a school’s emergency operations plan.

These recommendations are not hierarchical, nor are they intended to be all encompassing, but rather to set the base expectations for operational security capabilities in any K-12 school environment. They should be considered “foundational processes” and are the basic capabilities that should be the expectation for a safe and secure school environment that all students deserve, and all families and educators should expect.

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