Schools Focus on Campus Visibility Amid Growing Budget Pressures
New survey data shows K-12 and higher education institutions are prioritizing unified physical security systems to improve emergency response.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- August 07, 2026
Educational institutions across North America are increasingly prioritizing unified physical security systems to improve campus visibility and speed up incident response, even as tight budgets constrain operations.
According to new industry data from Genetec Inc., monitoring and responding to active incidents remains the primary use for physical security data, cited by 86% of higher education respondents and 79% of K-12 professionals.
Building access management also ranked as a critical function, with nearly 80% of higher education institutions and 77% of K-12 schools using security technology to audit student, staff and visitor movements. Additionally, more than half of all surveyed schools rely on security data to support emergency planning and drills.
Financial hurdles present the largest obstacle to these safety goals. Budget limitations were identified as the top challenge by 74% of K-12 respondents and 72% of higher education institutions.
To justify technology spending within these tight financial boundaries, administrators rely heavily on metrics that show improved situational awareness across campus grounds. Compliance with federal, state and district safety regulations serves as another key investment driver, particularly for K-12 administrators.
Security experts note that connecting video surveillance, access control and emergency data into a single operational platform allows schools to maximize existing infrastructure investments while meeting state safety mandates.