Access Control Trends Continue to Strengthen School Safety Security

  • By Jeremy Saline
  • November 08, 2024

Class period bells have been ringing across campuses for a few months now, but that doesn’t mean the subject of safety was fully settled before the start of the new school year. As one wise person once said, “It’s a journey, not a destination”. That’s why it remains a leading issue among administrators, faculty, students, and communities.

Schools are striving to be at the top of their class when it comes to the ability to control access instantly and securely, monitor suspicious behavior accurately and consistently, and respond to threats immediately and effectively. Ultimately, they aim to provide a reassuring, comfortable, and conducive environment for a rich learning experience. These goals apply whether at a community college in Southern California, a major university in Pennsylvania, or a rural K-12 district in Michigan.

Access Control Solutions Provide an Even More Seamless Experience
Colleges and universities have had badge, card, and keypad electronic access control readers in place for many years. Now, it’s all about mobile credentials. Higher education institutions nationwide are either fully making the shift or seriously planning to do so. Students now expect this amenity to be part of the convenience and security benefits their phones provide for practically every transaction.

The trend to mobile has seen considerable adoption in residence hall suites where retrofits of readers and locks range from Wi-Fi and wireless access control solutions to PoE installations for new construction depending on the need for locks to always be “online”. In addition, mobile credentials work well at compatible openings for campus laundry facilities, workout centers, and select classroom and lab locations.

Facial identification is also piquing more interest as a digital access control solution, where the credential is simply the human. Unlike facial recognition, facial identification is an intentional application where a person chooses to allow the technology to use their face as a credential. In higher education, it’s particularly advantageous for athletic programs where carrying a phone, card, or key is impractical and risks the potential for loss or theft.

Another level of access control that’s become increasingly integral, especially on college campuses, pertains to package delivery. Hundreds of thousands of packages flow into universities every year, and students want seamless ways to pick them up. That’s why smart delivery lockers are now being incorporated into residence halls, libraries, and student stores. IT departments use them to issue loaner laptops, and athletic departments are considering how they can help enforce bag policies.

The Life Safety Benefits of Digital Access
Not all colleges have students living on campus, however. Such is typically the case for most community colleges. Subsequently, the need for providing convenient access to residence halls isn’t a factor. Nevertheless, digital access is still a necessity in these environments – most of all, for empowering faculty and staff. It also streamlines issuing and managing access credentials and eliminates the need for brass keys which have a history of getting lost, stolen, or duplicated.

Many of these schools are opting for digital credential readers that feature a duress button on the classroom side of the reader and lock. This button allows an instructor to signal a security control center about a threat and simultaneously lock the door. If there’s a cluster of alerts coming from several classrooms, campus police dispatchers can activate a wider lockdown and then unlock all the doors remotely once it’s safe to do so.

Updates for K-12
For those involved with K-12, the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) Guidelines have recently undergone some updates to their recommendations. If you’re not familiar with this important organization and its free publications, visit passk12.org to learn more about it.

The guidelines are structured to cover five physical layers of school facility security, from the district-wide level to the building perimeter and all the way to classroom and other interior openings. Each layer outlines basic protective components of security, including procedures, access control, and much more.

Generally, each best practice recommendation corresponds to one of these components. Recommendations are further divided into Tiers, progressing from Tier 1, which provides a good baseline level of security, to Tier 4, which has the most comprehensive approaches to safeguarding a facility.

For the Building Perimeter Layer Access Control Component, PASS has proposed a Tier 1 requirement stating, “all visitor entry doors - exterior, interior, and office - need to be secured with a remote release and audio/visual system.” Fortunately, new, customizable IP video/audio intercom solutions are a practical choice. They give personnel a clear view of who is requesting access, two-way audio, and a more secure way to remotely identify visitors and grant entry.

In addition to the Tier 1 primary entrance, electronic access control (EAC) for secondary entrances has been added as a Tier 2-3-4 requirement. A new Tier 3-4 component for Building Perimeter EAC calls for issuing “mobile credentials to emergency responders” to save critical minutes by reducing their reliance on locating lock boxes to retrieve entry keys.

The Classroom/Interior Perimeter Layer of the PASS Guidelines is also being updated to more clearly state that “classroom and shelter-in-place doors must have the ability to be locked from inside” (Tier 1). Adding lock status indicators is also highly recommended (Tier 2) so teachers and students can readily confirm a door is secured.

While a new Tier 1 requirement states that “classroom doors should be closed and locked when occupied”, this isn’t always easy to stay on top of due to students coming and going during the day. Subsequently, more K-12 districts are deploying solutions at the classroom opening that automatically lock the door upon closing while still allowing free egress. EAC (Electronic Access Control) solutions are particularly beneficial in managing access to classroom doors. Cost-effective Wi-Fi and wireless EAC options are making the adoption more feasible.

Like the community college example earlier, some K-12 schools are programming an available button on the classroom side of an EAC lock that can be pressed to signal a duress or need-for-lockdown situation. This capability, along with panic buttons worn by faculty and staff, helps ensure there are multiple ways to send alerts if danger arises.

With unified platforms that integrate surveillance cameras, access control systems, and analytics for identifying unusual behavior and potential threats, there’s much technology can do to protect our schools at the K-12 and college level today. But it also takes the force multipliers of people, training, and vigilance to ensure we stay on the steady course toward deterring danger and improving outcomes.

This article originally appeared in the November / December 2024 issue of Campus Security Today.

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