By Bret Rachlin on 12/30/2008 11:28 AM

Gene Deisinger, the deputy chief of police at Iowa State University and an expert on Threat Assessment Management (TAM), has released a new book, The Handbook for Campus Threat Assessment and Management Teams (Source: Security Director News, 12/23/2008, Manual provides guidance but ‘there’s no one size fits all’). The book guides colleges and universities in setting up and implementing an effective TAM team.

A key component of the book is the focus on the involvement of multiple departments. Deisinger explained, "We learned along the way the power and value of a multi-disciplinary perspective in our TAM to increase communication, and enhance collaboration and coordination across departments. What we saw early on, was that individual departments were doing a good job [addressing issues], but they were doing it well in isolation. When we ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/22/2008 9:20 AM

Moffat County School District in Northwest Colorado plans to add a visitor management system to bolster its comprehensive security solutions (Source: Craig Daily Press, 12/17/2008, District to add screening system). Raptor, a Web-based software program, will “check visitors’ proof of identification against state, national and local databases.”

The new visitor management process requires visitors to present a valid driver’s license or other form of identification, so that the school secretary can scan it through the Raptor system and print a visitor badge to be worn while in the school. The visitors’ identification cards also will be checked against state and national sex offender registries, alerting school officials of any matches, so they can investigate the visitors prior to giving them access to the school. The school district admits that ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/15/2008 8:44 AM

Teachers in Columbia, Missouri, Public Schools have been given instructions to search their classrooms for evidence of potential bombs when bomb threats are made (Source: SecuritySolutions.com, 12/9/2008, Missouri Teachers Responsible for Bomb Detection).

According to the article, “the district’s emergency response plan calls for teachers to sweep their classrooms for potential explosives and listen for ticking noises. If a suspicious item is located, teachers are instructed not to touch it and to report it immediately to building administration.” The Missouri National Education Association does not have a problem with teachers being first response observers, as long as they are trained properly.

Overall, providing teachers training to be first responders in emergencies, such as bomb threats is appropriate. Teachers know their classrooms ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/8/2008 12:40 PM

Schools in New Jersey will likely conduct monthly security drills after legislation approved by the New Jersey Assembly gets passed in the state Senate (Source: Newsday, 11/23/2008, Security drills may come to NJ schools). According to the article, if the bill “becomes law, the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness would be charged with developing curriculum for school districts to use to help them conduct security drills.”

Of course, the state Education Department had encouraged schools to conduct security drills, but since no law existed, many schools hadn’t practiced their security plans. Obviously, school districts should be working to improve their security programs in the same fashion that they conduct fire drills to ensure safety in the event of a fire.

Overall, once New Jersey s ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 12/1/2008 9:50 AM

The author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, has written a new book, The Leader in Me, which highlights how several principals across the U.S. applied his 7 Habits to their struggling schools (Source: Time, 11/21/2008, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Schools).

According to this interview in Time Magazine, Covey explains how one school increased its percentage of students reading on their grade level by 32% in one year, while simultaneously increasing its percentage of student understanding of Math from 77% to 100%. Covey stresses the importance for teachers to focus on the whole child, including teaching them social and character skills.

Covey goes onto explain that schools should, “Nurture a partnership between schools and families that will focus upon social skills and character as well as academic rigor ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 11/24/2008 2:11 PM

The school community of Aurora, Ohio, clearly understands that it takes a team approach to keep their schools safe (Source: Aurora Advocate, 11/19/2008, Administrators and police team up on school security). According to the article a community forum was to be held on November 20th to address school security issues. District officials partnered with local police officers to host the forum for parents and other residents, so they could address the state of security across the schools in the district.

New district security initiatives include adding video surveillance to school buildings under construction, an enhanced visitor management system that requires visitors to request entrance to buildings via an intercom and to register at the office, and an increased presence of local police. The district also bought a radio system that will allow officials to communicate distr ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 11/17/2008 4:41 PM

I seem to have lots of questions today regarding school budget challenges, so please indulge me.

How does the nation’s struggling economy affect your school budgets (Source: USA Today, 11/11/2008, School districts caught in a squeeze)?

The American Association of School Administrators conducted a survey, which reported that “nearly half of superintendents are reducing hiring and cutting back on supplies. Twenty percent already have laid off staff, and another 31% have considered it.”

How do these budget reductions impact school security? For example, are you leveraging your security technology more effectively to compensate for a lack of school resource officers?

Are you exploring alternative funding options, such as working with local businesses to sponsor (fund) security ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 11/10/2008 1:48 PM

Recently, Wren's CEO, Andy Wren, participated in the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's Principal for a Day program. Here's Andy's account of his experience as a principal.

I wanted to share a few thoughts on my experience with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s Principal for a Day. First, I had a lot of emotions come rushing back as I entered the building, but I calmed down when they told me that there were no pop quizzes for me. I was fortunate enough to spend the day at Morningside Elementary with Principal Becky Pruitt. Morningside has approximately 970 students in Kindergarten through 5th grade, coupled with more than 100 teachers and staff; it is a very large operation. The main campus is an 80 year old treasure in the heart of the Morningside neighborhood that has been polished to show its character, while the kindergarten is housed a mile or so away in another historic building and an additional building under construction.

My biggest takea ... Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 11/6/2008 5:05 PM

The following presentation explains the cost of not having an adequate video surveillance solution in place for your school. Has an inadequate solution caused problems for your school?

Read More »

By Bret Rachlin on 10/31/2008 12:27 PM

Does your school district allow students without proof of vaccination to attend school two months after school starts? Some schools in Georgia do (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/26/2008, Vaccination Law Fails to Touch All Kids).

The following paragraph from the AJC article says it all:

At College Park Elementary, only 29 percent of its 57 kindergartners were in compliance last fall, records show. Although the law says such children should be barred from the classroom, they aren’t, said principal Gretchen Thornton.  “I can’t do that. Our business is to educate children,” she said. “The bottom line is, it isn’t the child’s fault if they don’t have the document.”

Additionally, the head of Atlanta ... Read More »