There are 5 key planning issues to consider for security planning for education facilities.

1.      Clear lines of sight
One of the most important aspects of planning for a “secure” environment is to establish clear lines of sight. This starts at the entrance to the site. It is very important to have a clear view of whom and what is coming to the building.

Once inside a facility, it is equally important to be able to visually connect with the primary components.

 2.      Control Points
Control points are the components that allow the building staff to monitor and manage movement from one zone to another. This could be a “security vestibule” that funnels all entries and exits from a facility through a control point, like the main office. Or…it could be digital monitoring that records movement or entry through a facility. This could be “proximity cards”, or smart keys.

3. Simplistic organization that is easily understood
Educational facilities should be organized or “designed” so that they can be easily understood. Points of entry, and the location of key components should be clearly identified. This is important to minimize confusion in any emergency situation, whether it is weather related, or a medical condition, or a fire.

4. Nodes of anticipated activity
Educational facilities should be organized or “designed” so that areas or nodes of similar types of activities are grouped together. The advantage to this is that it facilitates the identification of inconsistencies in the normal use patterns of a facility. Inconsistencies should trigger an awareness of a need to monitor the situation.

5. Neighborhood supervision
Neighborhood supervision is exactly what it suggests. Organizing the facility so that the staff can “see” each other and monitor activities, much like a neighborhood “watch”.