Safety: #1 Priority for Schools
School safety is always top of mind for school faculty, administrators, parents, and students. In a 2023 School Safety survey of more than 400 education professionals across the United States and Canada, educators once again placed the protection of students and staff as the highest priority. And technology, including automatic alerts, ability to view video feeds, connecting on any device or network, and discreet communications options were highlighted as key safety priorities as well.
What Does it Actually Mean to Have a Safe School?
At schools across the country, educators are not only tasked with the education of the next generation, but they are also asked to put the safety, security and protection of staff and students above all else. With its elevated role, safety needs to be considered holistically to combine the people, processes and technology required to make the school environment safe.
- People: administrators, teachers, support staff and students that are empowered to take effective action, and receive appropriate training for the school or district’s safety policy, processes, plans, and procedures.
- Processes: comprehensive security plans, and the policies and procedures that create the foundation of school safety and security.
- Technology: the devices and systems in place to control access to school property, record and detect incidents in progress, and communicate to/with appropriate parties.
Protecting Your School – A Layered Approach
Motorola Solutions is a strategic partner to the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) and recently facilitated a discussion to help K-12 schools learn how to protect your school today, tomorrow and into the future. Sharon Hong, Motorola Solutions’ Vice President of Safety Reimagined, moderated a discussion with Guy Grace, former K-12 Security Professional, and Kevin Wren, former K-12 Director of Risk, Security and Emergency Management about what it actually means to have a safe school. Guy and Kevin shared their insights from their previous experiences as school safety professionals and as PASS board members.
View a recording of the webinar to hear their insights.
The majority of the discussion centered around the PASS School Safety & Security Guidelines, and how schools and districts can effectively use the Layers of Protection when thinking about safety and security at their campuses and in their buildings. With multiple tiers, schools and districts can start where they are and add additional components, devices and systems over time. Motorola Solutions can assist this process by providing a security assessment with defined actions and next steps that align with each school or district’s individual timeframes and budgets. Motorola Solutions also sponsors Grant Assistance Programs to help schools and districts find sources of funding to implement devices and technology.
Developing and Putting a Plan into Action
The most important step, highlighted by both Guy and Kevin, is to start making security a priority today. “Begin by viewing the PASS guidelines,” said Guy Grace. “And then walk around your school building and find your security gaps using the checklist in the guidelines.” They highlighted the need to start with what you have today and build upon that for the future.
Motorola Solutions, with an entire ecosystem of safety and security technology, can be a key partner to helping your school or district to not only discover security gaps but also recommend the right solutions to secure your campus today, tomorrow and in the future.
Final Thoughts
Finding the right security technology for your school allows staff to focus on what matters: providing a safe learning environment for students.
To discover more of the discussion, watch the School Safety Webinar on demand.
