ASIS K-12 School Security Standard Should Arrive in 2025
- By Brent Dirks
- November 06, 2024
In September, at GSX 2024 in Orlando, committee members gave an update on the ASIS School Security Standard.
One of the committee members, Jeffrey Slotnick, CPP, PSP, said the standard will help K-12 schools find the right track to improve security. The entire committee is made up of more than 50 volunteers from both the public and private sector. It includes best practices from security experts, educators, law enforcement, and mental health professionals.
“Right now, if a school wants to improve its security, it’s hard to know where to start,” he said. “There’s a lot of advice out there but it’s scattered and sometimes contradictory.”
The standard covers several important areas:
- How to set up and run a best-in-class security program
- How to help schools perform a security risk assessment to identify potential threats, vulnerabilities and consequences
- How to create and practice emergency response and emergency operations plans
- How to make schools, buildings and grounds safer
- How to train staff and students on safety procedures
Instead of being a rigid guideline, the standard is flexible. It sets minimum security requirements and provides guidance without setting specific implementation methods. That will allow schools to better customize security measures better tailored to specific needs.
“This standard isn’t just for big schools or wealthy districts,” Slotnick said. “We’ve designed it to be useful for all schools, no matter their size, location or resources.”
During the press briefing, three sections of the standard were discussed.
After additional rounds of public comment, the standard is expected to be officially released in the second half of 2025. It will be the first school security standard approved by the American National Standards Institute.
This article originally appeared in the November / December 2024 issue of Campus Security Today.
About the Author
Brent Dirks is senior editor for Security Today and Campus Security Today magazines.