A shift is happening in the security industry because of a tighter alignment of technology and the human factor within K-12 school environments. It is evolving the security discussion for schools from traditional managed security to a new, thought-provoking stream of conversation around “managed freedom.”
This emerging concept of managed freedom centers on securing and protecting K-12 students with technology at the highest levels in American history while supporting and promoting their freedom to learn and grow as students in an educational environment without interference or friction. Top security officials at K-12 schools across the U.S. have called out managed freedom as among their most arduous challenges today.
The conversation is progressively exploring ways to make a school’s security overlay mesh with its daily operating cadence. Expectations are changing. Security staffs are expected to see, yet without necessarily being seen, coupled with the ability to be limiting (i.e. potential threats or unknown people) without being constricting to students or parents.
Advancements in technology, including threat detection, data analytics, facial recognition, system learning, seamless scanning, and mobile functionality used for physical security measures, are reshaping the security conversation at a fundamental level.
Elevating the Security Discussion
Amid what one end-user called today’s “renaissance in security technologies” the union of technology with the human factor is elevating the idea of managed freedom to the point where incident prevention is at the heart of the school security discussion. (The human factor includes those in charge of implementing it and those being protected by it.) Interestingly, we are seeing this union push schools in the direction of consultants – and that is a marked change in and of itself.
“Security technologies have an important role to support and supplement the human factor and, when implemented correctly, can play a huge role in incident prevention and response,” said Tony Chojnowski, Chief Operating Officer for True North Consulting Group. “Incident prevention should be the primary focus of every school’s security program.”
Technology discussions, especially for K-12 schools, are focused on establishing an internal view of what is normal, what is abnormal and what to do when it’s not normal. When established, deploying technology for each aspect ̶ built to react as autonomously as possible when something in or around the school is abnormal ̶ is key.
Proactive security teams at every school also need to be attuned to external forces and social indicators that impact their school. The use of real-time communications technologies will allow them to see what others don’t, seeing and connecting the dots prior to an incident happening. Then they can swiftly take systematic action with instantaneous lockdown for effective prevention, maintaining a holistic plan on and off campus.
The importance of a proactive approach is not lost on Chojnowski. “If we are responding to an incident, our security program has failed in some way,” he added.
Socializing the Security Discussion
In support of the preventative approach, a very close tie-in with local authorities to share technology when and where possible is also reshaping security conversations about K-12 schools.
With the use of the most advanced technologies available today, threat management has extended to the Internet, and many school districts work in concert with local police, monitoring for cyber threats being transmitted overtly or covertly via social media.
This external cyber monitoring has direct linkages to the school physical security and is part of a proactive approach with situational knowledge; it can come together in an integrated fashion for the purpose of school safety.
Upgrading the Security Discussion
Another aspect of the changing nature of the security in K-12 schools is the challenge of deploying new security technology in buildings of all ages. We are talking about buildings from new to 100 years old. As a result, some technologies simply cannot easily – or inexpensively – be installed.
This challenge has fostered discussions about streamlining the technology development/upgrade paths and orchestrating multi-phased deployments over time. These deployments require new investments, public support and cooperation with industry to develop products that do more for less cost in order to stretch these investments.
If managed freedom is a construct for using technology to provide discrete oversight, serious conversations need to be had at the local level to put a true value on managed freedom. What is that cost of truly securing and protecting the students, while offering them freedom to learn? One end-user at a large school district in the Midwest recently shared, “You need the school to be as secure as a prison, but not feel like it.”
New Questions for Security Discussion
As the security discussion for securing K-12 schools evolves, questions arise around procurement, such as: which security technologies are the correct baseline; how mobile functionality and facial recognition will evolve; what to consider with covert metal detection, or a combination of technologies and how best to deploy them; what the impact would be for a move to a single point of entry after the bell sounds; or what is best to do when balancing parental access with liability and care issues.
The security decision is driving the exploration of potential answers to these complex and sensitive questions.
Is the procurement process to acquire new technology for K-12 schools conducive to and keeping up with the advancing security threats that schools face?
Will Scabora, Associate Vice President and Director of Technology Design at Salas O’Brien, a construction engineering company, provided insight about the problem of the multi-year process for schools to get the funding for new technology that would better secure them. “Bond programs take years and the budgets are based on technology that could be five years old on deployment,” he said.
The acceleration of technological advancement has put a spotlight on the slow procurement process that, unfortunately, holds many schools back. An ISMS manager at a school district in Texas lamented that the process takes four years, due to the size of the district.
Funding is always an issue that forces planning well in advance of acquisition of technology. Bond referendums generate many of these deployments, so the citizens in the local communities are at the table early in the process, illustrating part of the human factor.
How can mobile functionality and facial recognition make a difference for schools?
Interest among decision-makers at K-12 schools for the integration of mobile and video, with the power of facial recognition technology, increases rapidly. The unification of the video system with the visitor management system is generating lots of ideas among administrators and consultants about the possibilities to improve security while enhancing the visitor process.
When we surveyed a group of K-12 end-user customers, several them said that they were not prioritizing mobile access for doors, but the mobilization of video was high on the action list. An end-user customer at a midsized Midwest school district expressed how excited he is with the direction of integrating visual recognition to his video deployment, allowing a more rapid assessment and recognition of frequent school visitors from infrequent visitors, while reducing visitor friction and involvement of the administrative staff.
What advantage could covert metal detection give to K-12 schools?
The question whether it’s worth deploying covert metal detection technology has stirred up new conversations. This type of technology is center stage with the “see, yet not be seen” mentality. This covert layer of security “intelligence” integrated into the infrastructure is applied to all and, when systemized with other onsite technologies, can initiate an autonomous reaction to weapons detected prior to breaching the facility.
As a consultant, Chojnowski shared his perspective: “Covert metal detection is a new and interesting technology that could be useful in reducing concealed weapons in schools.”
Should schools change to a single point of entry for all students?
When a director of Emergency Management, in charge of 16,000 classroom doors in a large school district, was asked “What do you see coming?”, she replied, “A move to single point of entry, once that bell rings.”
Our research shows a growing number of end-user customers have indicated that security vestibules are being deployed in schools, leveraging technology with construction to secure their entrances.
Adding a vestibule at an entrance allows the school staff to have direct oversight of every person who is seeking to enter the school building without being inside the building hallways. Secure entrances and single points of entry are perfectly aligned with the managed freedom concept for providing a safe place for students to learn.
These changes to school hallways in the construction of security vestibules have improved lockdown procedures in emergency situations. Furthermore, one end-user said, “Kiosks and portals are becoming more of a desire for school visitor registration and vetting.”
What is the right balance between parental access with liability and care issues?
Parents want the same frictionless access to the school as their children, but there are trade-offs. Further discussion will be needed in the security industry about how to optimize managed freedom in schools, not just through the technology, but also through security policies and procedures.
How can security professionals reimagine the possibilities of real-time communication to meet today’s ever-changing security challenges?
One end-user customer said, “Intercom is always an external prevention standard, accompanied by video,” while another end-user shared excitement about the possibility of video intercom devices that are interfacing with visitor management systems to quickly clear visitors via integration to watch lists in near real-time is up for discussion.
To sum it all up, technology is reshaping the security discussion for schools in a multitude of ways. The right questions are being asked. And the shift to managed freedom is a real challenge that security professionals will need to share insights with each other to address. At the end of the day, schools need a platform that can grow and evolve with them.
“Technology allows for everyone in the food chain to understand how the systems are working,” said Scabora from a security consultant perspective. “And if there’s a hole, it can be observed and rectified in real time.”
Ultimately, the security discussion is leading to better decision-making. The convergence of the human factor, physical measures and technology is creating new learning opportunities for local communities to think about security that protects children.
Chojnowski nailed it when he said, “It’s important to focus on all three of the fundamental areas of security to avoid making decisions in silos.”
The silos are coming down, driving robust new conversations about security in schools. The industry needs everyone with school security experience and valuable insight in the discussion that is reshaping the future.
About the author: Ben Vestal is Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Open Options. He has been with the company close to 13 years.
