Today I’m sharing a case study by Christin Kinman of Allegion that was published in Door Security + Safety Magazine.  It includes some great examples of how to address school security concerns without compromising on safety.

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The main entrance exit-only doors.

Recently, we were contacted by a private school with security concerns after experiencing several security related events. While the school wanted to improve security, they had little expertise in planning for physical security and needed assistance in systematically planning for improvements.

The school reached out to Allegion for assistance and guidance.  As part of the planning process, we worked to understand the school’s list of needs and the challenges they were looking to address.

One element the school wanted to focus on was securing the entire property. The school regularly had people walking their dogs on campus, neighborhood children using their athletic fields and various other situations where illegitimate use by illegitimate users was taking place. Their top priorities included perimeter fencing, electronic access control, updated video surveillance and securing classrooms from inside the classroom.

Once these objectives were identified, we were able to provide education on the recommendations from PASS, the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools and we discussed the concept of layered security.  We reviewed the four layers that PASS articulates, specifically the property perimeter, the parking lot perimeter layer, the building perimeter and the classroom perimeter. While the school was very concerned with securing classrooms, we were able to provide education and guidance about creating multiple layers to secure the school to give them time to initiate a lockdown and secure the school in an emergency.

Perimeter fencing with the vehicle gates controlled by an access control system.

The first priority was to secure the property perimeter to prevent unauthorized access and use of school grounds by the community. This was achieved by installing 8-foot tall aluminum anti-climb fencing with two vehicular gates at the entrance and exit. These gates operate on time zoned control at pick up and drop off. During the school day, these gates are closed and are controlled remotely, with staff using their credentials to open and close the gates.  Visitors are vetted and identified via intercom and video.  Securing the property with fencing reinforces the concept of territoriality and ownership and signage on the gate communicates legitimate use and users.

At the parking lot layer, several needs were identified. The school had a heavily wooded area adjacent to the back of the property and there was evidence of an encampment. The school wanted better lighting around the property and in the parking lots with additional security camera feeds. To address this concern, the school completed an LED lighting upgrade for the entire exterior of the property including the parking lot, the building perimeter, and all walkways and pathways. This was made possible through a rebate program offered by the power company. Once the lighting issue was resolved, this allowed the school to increase their capacity for adding exterior cameras.

The electric locks for classroom doors.

One of the first activities that we worked on was a complete assessment of the existing access control system and mechanical hardware. This allowed us to understand how openings needed to function, how they were used, and to make specific recommendations to the school to improve building security.

At the building perimeter layer, the school had an existing legacy access control system with some proximity readers; however, most exterior openings were not covered. Additionally, much of the mechanical hardware needed to be replaced or modified to bring it into compliance with the ADA or other codes and to make updates consistent with best practices in a K-12 facility.

One of the first areas addressed was the entrance vestibule.  The existing vestibule had three banks of double doors, all of which had exterior door pulls. In order to direct students, staff, and visitors through one entrance, all doors became exit only except one door where a new multi-tech reader and video intercom were installed. At other exterior doors, hardware was updated as well.  Examples included removing the left-hand door pulls on pairs of doors to prevent chaining, making as many doors exit only wherever possible, removing manual dogging on exterior doors, converting all exterior trim to storeroom function, and adding multi-tech readers at openings identified as needing access control.

Cross-corridor doors, used to segment and compartmentalize, are controlled by electronic access control.

The school also wanted to update their legacy access control with smart credentials and multi-tech readers and desired to have a unified system that allowed the access control, video surveillance, and intrusion detection system to run on the same platform.  Given these parameters, we worked to develop a system that would allow for these requirements, which included working with an integrator to find the most cost-effective solution. Ultimately the school elected to use Genetec as the physical access control solution, using a smart credential with a custom key and multi-tech readers. This same technology was added to the vehicle gates as well.

Once the building perimeter was secured, we began to look at the building interior and ways to segment, compartmentalize, and secure gathering spaces such as the media center, cafeteria, and gymnasium.  The school was designed so that the main office entrance was in the lobby vestibule while the academic areas were beyond a pair of cross-corridor doors. We made the recommendation to add card readers to secure and restrict access to these areas.

Once the office and academic areas were secure, we next looked at securing the gathering spaces.  The gymnasium and cafeteria shared space with three pairs of double doors leading into these areas. These doors were normally held open by magnetic hold opens. On these doors, we added electric latch retraction with remote undogging/remote monitoring kits and a relay was added to the fire alarm panel so that if the school went into lock down, the doors would release and be secure.  The same remote undogging and remote monitoring kits were added to the media center and STEM lab.

Gymnasium doors usually held by magnetic hold-opens will release on lockdown.

The final layer that the school wanted to address was the classroom doors.  They wanted to be able to instantaneously initiate a lockdown and know all doors were secured.  For this, electronic locks were needed on all classroom doors. During this process, the school had applied for and been awarded multiple grants, which enabled them to install electronic locks on all classroom doors.  Each classroom had a Schlage LEB electronic lock installed. The access control system was then programmed so that each lock’s default setting was set to lock whenever the door was closed. As part of the security planning process, the school revised its policies and procedures to reflect that staff were required to carry their credentials everywhere and that classroom doors were to be closed when classrooms were occupied.

An assembly space with remote undogging and remote monitoring.

This school, faced with multiple security concerns, is a roadmap for other schools to emulate.  The school was open to learning about systematically planning for security, working through securing each layer appropriately, finding funding to implement improvements, and changing the culture of security among stakeholders to ensure that the improvements were not circumvented by staff for the sake of convenience.

As a result, parents, staff, and students can be assured that security improvements and protocols are being followed to keep the facility secure and its occupants safe.  Since implementing these improvements, the school has seen a significant boost in both interest and enrollment with many parents and prospective families commenting on their security.

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