Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) recently updated its guidelines to provide K-12 schools nationwide with a comprehensive list of best practices for securing school facilities.
“The latest version of the PASS Safety and Security Guidelines reflects and addresses the most current threats facing K-12 schools and offers robust information and best practices for those of us in the education community on how we can better secure our schools,” says Jeremy Gulley, superintendent of Jay School Corporation in Portland, Ind. and a member of the PASS Board of Directors and Advisory Council.
The guideline thus comprises five physical layers of school facilities: district perimeter, property perimeter, parking lot perimeter, building perimeter, and classroom/interior perimeter. Those components include policies and training, roles and training, architecture and communications. It further includes access control, video surveillance, and detection and alarms.
Every two years PASS updates its guidelines to keep pace with evolving technology and school security challenges. Subject matter experts across the country’s education, public safety and security industries also review and update the guidelines.
PASS Guidelines Version 6 Updates
New to the sixth-edition PASS Guidelines are the following:
- More focused best-practice recommendations to identify needed areas of improvement by separating the tier-continuum practices already required by federal law or regulation or uniformly implemented throughout the U.S.
- Tiers re-designated for clarity; recommending that all schools and districts work toward Tier One measures regardless of location, budget or risk profile. If Tier One measures are in place, all should work toward Tier Two. The need for Tier Three and Four measures depends on an assessment from the core security team.
- Enhancements to the classroom security section, which is a critical area for school safety. It’s simplified and updated with current terminology, illustrations and recommendations consistent with modern, code-compliant door hardware and access control equipment.
- A new Enhanced Technologies section that details solutions under consideration by many schools and districts. These solutions show potential for significant improvements to school safety but may still need to be widely adopted. These include newer technologies in weapons detection, analytics, emergency communications and biometrics.
Additionally, Chuck Wilson, CEO of the National System Contractor’s Association, co-founder of PASS, serves as the chair of the PASS Advisory Council.
The PASS Safety and Security Guidelines are now available for download.
