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Why Schools Should Start Security Planning Now: Leveraging Summer to Build Safer Campuses
As the end of the academic year approaches, school administrators face a critical but often overlooked opportunity: the chance to proactively plan for next year’s physical security needs. School safety is always a top concern and ensuring a secure learning environment is no longer just a best practice, it’s a responsibility. The time to start evaluating your school’s physical security is now, not in August when the clock is expiring.
Whether your school is just beginning its security journey or refining existing measures, starting early offers a strategic advantage. With summer just around the corner, now is the ideal time to conduct a thorough security assessment, align recommendations with budget cycles, and lay the groundwork for a long-term safety roadmap.
Summer is a Perfect Opportunity for Physical Security Reviews
The summer break provides a great opportunity to evaluate and improve school security. With students and most staff off-campus, schools can conduct comprehensive physical assessments with minimal disruption to daily operations. During the summer, schools should consider reviewing:
- Access Control: How students, staff, and visitors enter and move through buildings. Assess single-point or limited points of entry practices, automatic door locking systems, and access credentials. Review door and door hardware conditions, functionality and efficacy, including door closers, and test lockdown functionality.
- Surveillance Systems: Inspect the placement, coverage, and performance of video surveillance. Confirm cameras capture points of interest areas like entries, perimeter doors, emergency exits, hallways, parking lots, and large assembly and gathering spaces. Analyze area blind spots to determine if they should be covered.
- Perimeter Security: Evaluate fencing, gates, exterior lighting, landscaping, and wayfinding signage to identify vulnerabilities or blind spots.
- Interior Safety Measures: Ensure classroom doors can be locked from the inside, emergency exits are functioning properly and are not blocked or constricted, and safe shelter areas are designated.
- Visitor Management: Review protocols at main entrances and front offices. Confirm systems for verifying IDs, issuing badges, and tracking movement on campus.
- Emergency Communication: Test public address systems, duress buttons, emergency radios, and mass notification capabilities.
- First Responder Coordination: Ensure public safety agencies have updated maps, site access plans, and emergency contacts for your school or district. Coordinate emergency access needs, including Rapid Entry Boxes and equipment (physical keys, key card/fob, etc.)
- Emergency Supplies: Check contents of “go bags”, first aid kits, ensure maps are current, inspect supplemental locking devices, check flashlights and batteries, inspect life-saving equipment such as AEDs.
- Emergency Plans: Review and update emergency plans and response protocols, validate offsite muster locations are still viable, and emergency contacts are current.
Engaging a security consultant during this time can amplify the value of your assessment. A qualified consultant not only provides an objective and comprehensive analysis but also brings a deep understanding of industry best practices, including those outlined in the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) guidelines.
Using PASS Guidelines to Improve Planning
The PASS framework, developed specifically for K-12 schools, is a tiered system that helps schools assess and enhance their physical security infrastructure based on factors like risk tolerance, campus layout, and available resources. These guidelines offer a scalable approach, whether your school is in the early stages of implementation or working toward advanced integration of systems and protocols. The PASS organization is going to be releasing a newer version of the guidelines soon.
An independent, vendor agnostic consultant can:
- Walk your team through the PASS checklists in a simplified and easy to consume manner.
- Benchmark your current systems against industry standards.
- Prioritize upgrades based on urgency and available budget.
- Develop a strategic, phased approach to security improvements.
Aligning with Budget Cycles for Maximum Impact
Initiating your security planning in the spring allows you to align recommendations with your budgeting and procurement timelines. Whether planning for the next fiscal year or submitting proposals for capital funding or state safety grants, a summertime assessment enables:
- Timely procurement of equipment and services for the upcoming school year.
- Justification for school board budget requests.
- Integration of security projects into long-term facility master plans.
- Application for external funding (e.g., FEMA, DOJ, state-level grants) using well-documented needs assessments.
- Instead of reacting to issues mid-year, early planning sets the stage for sustainable and strategic implementation.
A Sample Summer Security Assessment Timeline
To help schools visualize how to make the most of this planning window, the following is the chronological process that outlines a typical assessment:
- Initiate engagement with a security consultant, review goals, and gather documentation like floor plans, existing system drawings or specifications, incident reports, and emergency protocols.
- Conduct on-site assessments, interviews, and walkthroughs. Begin system evaluations and vulnerability analysis.
- Receive a preliminary report of findings with prioritized recommendations and a roadmap tailored to budget and timelines.
- Begin implementation of high-priority improvements such as access control upgrades, door hardware repairs, policy and procedure development, staffing adjustments, etc.
- Conduct faculty training, emergency response drills, and finalize enhancements.
- Debrief with stakeholders, revisit the long-term plan, and schedule follow-up evaluations or tabletop exercises.
Build a Safer Tomorrow
A secure school environment not only protects students and staff but also strengthens community trust, enhances emergency readiness, and reduces the potential for tragic events. By acting now, schools can use the summer months strategically, by conducting meaningful assessments, implementing improvements, and setting the stage for long-term safety success.
Let this be the year your school takes a proactive approach to physical security. Leverage expert guidance, adopt proven tools like the PASS guidelines, and make smart, sustainable investments in your campus safety.
Partner with an experienced security consultant who understands the challenges of K-12 environments that can help you navigate every step, from assessment to implementation. Our expert team has completed over 2,000 security assessments for educational institutions, helping each client realize the benefits of proactive planning. The path to a safer school begins with the first conversation, be proactive in your approach to school security.
Jordan Ferrantelli MBA, CPP, PSP
Vice President, Healthcare, Education + Life Safety Practice
Jordan Ferrantelli, MBA, CPP, PSP, is Vice President, of the Healthcare, Education + Life Safety Practice with more than 14 years of experience in security consulting and design experience throughout several vertical markets, joins Guidepost Solutions in the Chicago office. Mr. Ferrantelli has been involved in several high-profile risk assessments and prominent security system designs throughout the United States and abroad. He has worked on several prestigious projects in the healthcare, higher education, financial environments, and hospitality industries, among others, and also large multi-use/multi-faceted projects.
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