School Security Tips

As the school season winds down and summer break approaches over the next several weeks, we started getting more and more calls from schools looking to add security equipment during the summer break. Now is certainly the time to start planning and executing these security additions to ensure that they are in place before the next school year begins! In today’s post, we share some of the ways that we help schools secure their buildings. Obviously, school security is more important now than ever, and we want to offer both security and peace of mind to school employees and students alike. Today, we’ll share some school security tips that you can take advantage of and get in place over the summer.

First, we’ll detail the security advantages of installing cameras to monitor your school’s entrances. Advances in surveillance technology have made adding this equipment more effective than ever. From there, we’ll turn our attention to door security systems that use electronic locking hardware. Specifically, we’ll focus on intercom and access control systems that can help you control and track access to your school. Then, we’ll shift our attention to adding classroom security in the form of specialized levers. Manufacturers create school-specific locking hardware to help with important area of school security. Now, let’s get started with a look at the advantages of top-level camera security.

Take Advantage of Top-Level Camera Technology to Monitor Entrances

We often install cameras as part of any commercial security plan. In many of these settings, we install cameras in order to record events that happen when during non-business hours. However, installing cameras as a means of improving school safety brings a different dynamic into play. School security measures revolve more around what happens when the building is occupied than when it is empty. For this reason, staff should have a way of monitoring entrances to a school effectively in real time. The more detail a staff member can see when looking at a visitor, the better chance of catching any potential threat to those inside. Dependable cameras that provide a high-quality image help staff members tremendously.

Our post on The Differences Between Analog and IP Cameras examines the two most popular camera technologies. Analog cameras certainly provide a more budget-friendly option. However, IP cameras deliver a better picture, allowing users to zoom in on recorded or real-time images. For high-security applications such as schools, we recommend cameras that offer high-definition viewing at the very least. For doors that specifically require close monitoring, high-quality IP cameras give you the best picture and performance. Cameras with Artificial Intelligence (or A.I.”) capabilities also allow you to search for specific individuals entering your school, making tracking important events that involve specific people that much easier! Now, let’s take a look at another type of technology that can help secure the perimeter of your school.

Install Equipment to Control Access to the Building Efficiently

We recommend using intercoms and electronic locking options to keep important areas of the school secure. When used with cameras, electronic entry systems can allow staff members to immediately grant access to visitors after taking a look at them. Audio intercom systems (as well as audio/video intercom systems) also provide a means for visitors to communicate the reason for their visit. The opportunity to see a visitor, have that conversation, and then allow or deny access from the front office helps staff tremendously.

During a busy school day, security often gets compromised due to the large number of people entering the building. During hectic mornings, employees can have trouble keeping an eye on everyone coming through the school. At these times, main doors are often left unlocked to allow for staff and student arrival. Adding access control to other areas of the building can help improve school safety at these times. If a visitor attempts to sneak into an off-limits section of the school after entering during the morning rush, this system will stop them. However, it will not stop someone with a credential from opening that same door.

The same goes for exterior doors. Teachers and administrators can use their credentials to utilize staff-only doors, while parents and the general public cannot. This adds both security and convenience. Teachers do not have to carry around keys that could get lost or copied to enter these doors. Administrators and janitors will not have to try to keep track of which key opens which doors, and which personnel have which keys. These features make adding both access control and intercom systems one of our most effective school security tips. Next up, let’s continue our school security tips by turning our attention to the locking hardware that we use to secure a school’s classrooms.

School Security Levers

Last week, our Commercial Lever Function Primer explained the most common types of commercial levers. We intentionally omitted school-specific lever functions to save them for this week due to their school-specific nature. Perhaps no area of commercial lock security receives more attention than school security. After all, violent incidents in schools have risen sharply in the past several years. As Security Magazine recently pointed out, updating security hardware should sit near the top of any school district’s “to-do” list in order to combat this threat. In this section, we’ll look at the two most popular types of levers that we install in classrooms in order to provide the best security possible. Let’s start with a look at the most common of these two, the classroom function lever.

Classroom Levers

Classroom function levers provide a couple types of security. For starters, users can unlock these doors with a key and leave them unlocked, similarly to an entrance function lever. This gives them the security of any keyed lever. However, these levers do not have a button or turn of any kind on the inside. Therefore, someone inside the classroom cannot lock the lever from the inside at all. This keeps students from potentially locking teachers out of the classroom as a prank if teachers enter the hallway for a short amount of time. While this represents an unlikely scenario, it also presents a true security issue if it happens. For this reason, many schools install these types of levers to secure their classrooms.

While useful, classroom security levers do provide a threat in the case of a security emergency. Because users can only lock these levers from the outside, teachers cannot shut the door and then lock it. In the case of an active shooter or any situation where exposure to the hallway could present danger, this obviously creates an undesirable situation. Let’s now see how lock manufacturers address this issue.

Classroom Security Levers

Classroom security levers, sometimes called “Columbine locks,” do require a key to lock and unlock the door at all times, just like a standard classroom function lever.  However, classroom security levers also have cylinders on the inside of the lock itself. This lets you lock these doors with a key without putting yourself in harm’s way. Additionally, the fact that you need a key to operate these doors also prevents the student lockout scenario we described earlier. For added security, these levers also generally have an indicator on the inside to help users quickly determine the door’s locking status, and to help them lock the door if needed. You can see this indicator in the pictured classroom security lever. The unique security this function provides makes it one of the most sought-after high-security lever functions in the school security market.

Putting our School Security Tips to Use for You

We hope that our school security tips create a conversation starter for beefing up school security measures. We know the complexities and emotions associated with issues of school safety. If you have any questions about the material covered in this post, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have worked with a variety of schools and offered tailor-made solutions to shore up school safety and security. In addition, we provide free site surveys to examine any vulnerabilities and make recommendations of our own. Together, we can help you create a plan to keep the wrong people out of any school. In turn, this will keep the right people — the employees and students who will be walking the halls again shortly — feeling safer doing so.