By Bret Rachlin on
5/30/2008 2:08 PM
Earlier this week SecurityInfoWatch Radio released Episode 27 (Source: SecurityInfoWatch.com, 5/27/2008, School Security Roundtable) of its radio podcast series. This episode focuses on the challenges facing K-12 schools, colleges and universities as those organizations protect their students and secure their campuses. Sharing their thoughts on the school safety and security challenges are independent campus security consultant Dr. Adam Thermos along with Cindy Downing of Honeywell Security and Andy Wren of Wren Solutions. From issues of where to put surveillance cameras, how to use shelter-in-place systems to funding and mo ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
5/23/2008 10:46 AM
CDW Government announced the results of its 2008 School Safety Index this week, providing the current status of public school district safety (Source: SecuritySolutions.com, 5/20/2008, CDW-G Finds Improvements and Declines in 2008 School Safety Index). More than 400 district IT and security directors offered their perspectives on school safety issues for the study. The 2008 School Safety Index finds that districts improved their physical security score by ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
5/16/2008 2:53 PM
This week the Oklahoma State Senate passed Senate Bill 1941, the Oklahoma School Security Act (Source: Tulsa Today, 5/15/2008). SB 1941 would require that schools practice lockdowns two times each year vs. only one time under current law. It also adds electronic communications to the state’s bullying statutes, which hopefully will reduce, and more effectively police, bullying. The bill now requires the Governor’s signature for it to become law.
Like many states Oklahoma is taking proactive steps to provide safer learning environments for school students, teachers and administrators. Most states require or encourage sc ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
5/6/2008 2:42 PM
Last Thursday, KVOA News 4, Tucson, Arizona, profiled Flowing Wells High School's new security initiatives. The news story highlights how the high school has increased security with an improved visitor management process and the addition of network video ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
5/2/2008 2:58 PM
Last week, Wren’s security expert, Jeff Floreno, completed a two day course on conducting campus security audits at the Texas School Safety Center. Here are his comments on the training
I found the Texas School Safety Center’s two day Audit Training course to be very useful for both experienced security practitioners as well as security novices. Although the course content is designed to teach individuals how to conduct school safety audits for the state of Texas, the material is applicable to any state’s K-12 educational sett ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
4/25/2008 10:47 AM
Video surveillance footage exonerated a group of students at Athens Middle School in Tyler, Texas (Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph, 4/18/2008, Do Cameras Belong In Schools?), recently. Although the students were accused of a violent assault and threatening a female classmate, video showed only one male student taking her history project and running away from her, and it also showed evidence that the wounds she said she sustained during the attack were self-inflicted. Obviously, this is a good example of the value for schools in having video surveillance as part of their overall security and safety initiatives.
The editorial column continues, however, in exploring the debate concerning to what degree video surveillance should be used in scho ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
4/18/2008 3:35 PM
The recent national news coverage showing a cell phone video recording of a student hitting Baltimore art teacher Jolita Berry in her classroom (Source: Baltimore Sun, 4/11/2008, Attack on city teacher highlights training gaps) has sparked conversation among school officials about how to train teachers to deal with violent situations with students. Last fall
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By Bret Rachlin on
4/11/2008 9:39 AM
A University of Washington project on radio frequency identification, or RFID, (Source: SecuritySolutions.com, 4/8/2008, Washington University predicts An RFID-Filled Future) currently is tracking students, faculty, and staff “as they move about the computer-science bui ...
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By Bret Rachlin on
4/4/2008 11:20 AM
With the end of the year in sight, Albany, NY, High School teachers are concerned about an increase in rowdy student behavior (Source: Times Union, 4/1/2008,
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By Bret Rachlin on
3/28/2008 1:32 PM
Here’s an update to our February 22nd blog commentary on school security issues at Hempstead High School in New York. According to the March 21st edition of Newsday (Hempstead schools superintendent resigns; Source: Newsday),
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