School authorities have many responsibilities, including ensuring the safety of all the students entrusted to their care. They also have to protect teachers, school staff, and visitors and try to do this without disrupting their daily activities.
Let’s examine some of the best security measures for high schools to understand how this can be done.
Video surveillance system
All high schools can benefit from an efficient video surveillance system. Cameras must be linked to a CCTV system to ensure their footage is monitored and recorded.
The presence of cameras can be enough to deter violence and crime. However, a video surveillance system is also helpful because it can help school officials identify trespassers or react more promptly in case of a fire or another violent threat to students’ safety. This is why all high schools should implement this effective security measure if they haven’t already.
Access control system
It’s important to ensure that anyone who doesn’t belong in a high school has no access to the property for the safety of students, teachers, and school staff.
Implementing an access control system makes it easy to secure a high school. Such a system restricts access to different areas of the school and helps prevent intruders from getting in.
Any legitimate school visitor should register at the reception area and be provided with an ID card. School officials must always be able to see who is inside the school.
Weapon detection system
Weapon detection systems are among the best security measures for high schools. With gun detection technology, there is no need to trouble students, school staff, and visitors with invasive pat-downs or bag searches. The AI-powered system will detect concealed guns, knives, and other threats and discreetly alert security personnel.
Students and staff must realize that their high school has a weapon detection system. They will be kept safe without worrying or feeling anxious about whether someone could bring a weapon to school.
Security alarms
Most high schools are equipped with functional fire alarms, which warn everyone to evacuate as quickly as possible in case of a fire.
However, schools should also be equipped with panic alarms, which can be activated in the case of an active shooter, a hostile student or parent, or even a medical emergency. Panic alarms can be a button that can be pressed or a mobile app or desktop program.
Communication management system
High schools can greatly benefit from replacing their old intercom systems with modern ones. When used with a communication management system, intercom devices can do much more than allow the front office to share important announcements or make it easier for teachers to communicate with one another.
If there is an emergency, the intercom system can help keep people safe by providing instructions, evacuation procedures, or real-time updates. High schools are better equipped to handle emergencies when relying on their intercom system.
Security lighting
Implementing security measures for high schools is also about ensuring the school property is well-lit. Security lighting helps make playgrounds, walkways, and parking areas safer in the evening, especially in the winter when it gets dark much earlier.
Security lights triggered by infrared detectors are necessary for schools with a CCTV system. Monitoring the footage captured by surveillance cameras would only be useful if it was too dark for them to detect intruders and other threats. Security lights can sometimes be enough to deter crime.
Fencing and security gates
School authorities can help prevent intruders by ensuring the school grounds have no easy access points. Fencing instantly helps secure the perimeter, while security gates with access control ensure no one can enter the school without permission. Those security measures protect students and school staff who work outside of school hours.
School bus fleet tracking
Finally, schools can also help keep students safe when they get to school and leave school to return home at the end of the day.
How? By implementing a school bus fleet tracking system. Such a system tracks bus routes and allows school officials to stay connected to drivers and be alerted whenever something goes wrong.
School bus fleet tracking is also useful for optimizing a bus fleet’s maintenance and inspection processes. This is necessary to keep students and drivers safe, as it helps prevent accidents and bus malfunctions.
