An Integrated Approach to a Safer School District
Colorado K-12 district invests in long-term security solution
- By Ellie Randall
- July 01, 2017
LITTLETON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
—OR MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS
LPS—IS LOCATED JUST 10 MILES
OUTSIDE THE BUSTLING DOWNTOWN
DENVER, AND SERVES SEVERAL
COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE SOUTHERN
DENVER METROPOLITAN AREA.
LPS IS THE FIFTEENTH LARGEST
SCHOOL DISTRICT IN COLORADO,
OPERATING THREE HIGH SCHOOLS,
FOUR MIDDLE SCHOOLS, 13 ELEMENTARY
SCHOOLS, A PRESCHOOL,
TWO CHARTER SCHOOLS AND SEVERAL
ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS THAT
SPAN OVER 29 MILES.
The district is responsible for more than
15,000 students day-to-day and employs over
2,500 faculty and staff. Managing security and
access for this amount of people can be a challenge—
especially given all other security factors
campuses face—but the LPS campuses
are also open for use within the Littleton
community.
“Schools are often not only educational
facilities, but also centerpieces of the community,”
said Guy Grace, director of Security and
Emergency Planning for LPS. "So it is crucial
we get the security right.”
POE CABLING FOR
SYSTEM EXPANSION
“In the past, there were significant challenges
that arose when the school district deployed
security technology,” said Grace. “Often, the
older technology did not evolve with new
threats, and as a result, became obsolete.”
LPS’s former access control provider was
proprietary and not PoE (Power over Ethernet)
compatible. PoE infrastructure results in
lower cost, greater flexibility with installation,
and overall more functionality than traditional
wiring. As a result, the school district is able
to adjust to and decrease new vulnerabilities.
Grace and his staff were adamant about
implementing technology that would provide
an integrated approach to a safer school by
utilizing PoE to ultimately achieve a fullfledged
Physical Security Information Management
(PSIM) system. Although DNA
Fusion is not generally categorized as a PSIM
system, it serves as the primary interface for
all other systems to tie into.
“In wanting to bring this big vision to the
school district, we looked at procedures and
technologies that would enhance school security
and improve the learning environment,”
said Grace. “One of the most important tiers
we wanted to meet was a complete installation
of a PoE cabling infrastructure district-wide
that would allow us to use non-proprietary
systems, which helps us bring the best technology
into the district.”
LPS’S VISION FOR NEW ACCESS
CONTROL PROVIDER
As Grace began the vendor selection process
for the upgrade, he looked at suppliers that
were consistently evolving. This would allow
the district to grow alongside their service
providers as new features and technologies
became available. “Our overall security goal is
pretty simple,” said Grace. “We must have
quality technology delivering quality results,
because we cannot have a successful educational
experience without safety and security
well taken care of.”
Grace and his team sought an access control
provider that could integrate with their chosen
technology providers and offer a user-friendly
interface that allowed multiple operators to utilize
the system. After vetting several vendors,
LPS selected Open Options for the project.
Open Options’ flagship access control platform,
DNA Fusion, interfaces with a host of
other systems and also has mobile and web
applications. Open Options and Mercury
Security have worked together for two
decades to provide a true open architecture
access control solution. Mercury Security is
the leading open platform access control
hardware provider with over 20 OEM partners,
the most extensive feature set, and the
world’s largest install base with over 3 million
controllers. Multiple manufacturers support
this hardware platform, which allows the end
user a valuable choice in software. Because of
Open Options’ commitment to open architecture
and their numerous third-party technology
integrations, Mercury Security named
Open Options one of the company’s first
Platinum Elite Partners.
The transition from LPS’s former access
control solution to DNA Fusion began a few
years ago, when LPS closed their campuses for
the summer and began installing the Open
Options infrastructure. During the transition,
the older access control system continued to
operate on its server in Information Technology
Services, and will be shut down indefinitely
as the remaining campuses are converted
to DNA Fusion at the end of this May.
LPS also utilizes other elements of the DNA Fusion platform to
enhance their security, including OpenDX, Open Options’ database
exchange software, and their Fusion Web and Fusion Mobile applications.
“OpenDX allows us to easily import data to help facilitate the
large amount of users we have on the system,” said Grace. “Additionally,
the web and mobile components of the software ensure we can
access and manage security from almost anywhere. We receive alerts of
open doors, forced entries, etc. straight to our mobile devices or
remote desktops.”
Grace and his team found the flexibility of programming time
schedules and access levels to be highly beneficial in daily operations
across the district. Security differs from campus to campus; for
instance, there are time schedules in place for specific doors that are
manned by security officers at the high school campuses, but the elementary
and middle schools remain locked throughout the day with
the exception of student arrival and dismissal times. Access levels vary
by employee, with some having 24/7 access to all buildings while others
only have access specific to the building they work in.
OPEN PLATFORM & CUSTOMIZED SOLUTION
LEADS TO INTEROPERABILITY
Before selecting Open Options, LPS had already chosen 3xLOGIC
as their video management provider. Open Options and 3xLOGIC
worked together to create the drivers and processes that would
allow the two to build the core of the access control system. There
are a number of other technology integrations—including loss prevention,
duress systems, intercom and more—involved in giving
LPS a complete security solution. All of these integrations work
with one another and through DNA Fusion to provide a comprehensive
solution.
Open Options also had to do some customization and development
to ensure all facets of the integrated solution were seamless, and to
provide LPS with the features and functionality needed to adequately
monitor their security. This included redesigning the alarm automation
component of DNA Fusion to accommodate the Bosch and Inovonics
integration, as well as designing custom graphics maps to be
used across the entire district. The graphics maps play a huge role in
LPS’s security solution, as access control, visitor management, cameras,
and lockdown settings can all be accessed and managed through
the maps. Extensive operator capabilities, such as the ability to control
doors, manage time schedules, and check visitors entering the building,
are also available through the maps.
A project this size simply cannot be done without quality integration
partners. Colorado-based integrators Beacon Communications and
Team Linx installed all the equipment and worked tirelessly with LPS
and the technology manufacturers to ensure the systems were communicating
properly with one another for maximum functionality.
LPS believes that a security system must be deployed in a manner
that is customizable for the school and its daily operations that
enhances the abilities of teachers to teach and students to learn. A
security system must ultimately have the ability to be deployed and
work efficiently around the clock for many different needs. With this
in mind, LPS currently has 29 sites utilizing the DNA Fusion platform
with plans to have over 150 operators district-wide. “We expect the
system to evolve for the needs of the district for
years to come,” said Grace. “Security is never static,
so the system must be proactive like the people
that use it—we are glad to say we can count on
Open Options and DNA Fusion for that.”
This article originally appeared in the July 2017 issue of Campus Security Today.