By Lindsey Coulter

Safety at American schools is a constant talking point but concerns were raised further in 2020. The Government Accountability Office said 54% of schools in America were in “dire need of updates or complete building replacements.” A followed, claiming $1.1 trillion is needed to modernize and replace America’s schools. 

Aging buildings and a high number of violent incidents have rightly given parents many structural and physical concerns about future school constructions. There are many boxes that need ticking. Educators, policy makers, architects and security experts are playing a role in building safer environments for students and staff.

What to expect from the future of American schools

1. Construction 

The hazards of poor structural integrity stretch beyond the risk of building collapse. Aging buildings put students at risk of exposure to harmful substances (lead paints, PCBs, dust, etc.), mold spores and poor air quality. COVID-19 added to these structural concerns, as viruses spread faster in poorly ventilated areas. Modern school construction actively addresses these hazards that put students in danger.

Future school builds will include:

• Climate-resistance materials to withstand extreme temperatures
• Smart hallway design to avoid overcrowding and crushing during an emergency
• Storm shelters in large areas such as gyms 
• Predictive maintenance sensors to inspect buildings’ structural health
• Buildings designed with a number of evacuation routes.

2. Security systems

America’s appallingly high rate of violence in schools demands nothing less than state-of-the-art . Security guards need technology to help them detect threats as fast as possible. 

Schools are one of the most difficult environments to protect. They are unique, complex buildings filled with thousands of students. In a loud and crowded atmosphere, it’s unrealistic for security guards to detect every security threat. World-class security technology buys security officers time and awareness to make decisions faster – decisions that could save many lives.

Modern school security systems feature:

• Smart security cameras: give guards a real-time assessment of crowded environments. Security guards are alerted to weapons, threatening behavior, large crowds, loud noises and loitering. Smart cameras tag people and objects, giving guards a clear view of the events happening on CCTV screens.
• Smart sensors: Today’s smart sensors can detect hazards such as toxic fumes, smoking/vaping loud noises and threatening language.
• Integrated systems: A security response is scuppered if officers need to jump between systems when a threat is detected. Cutting-edge technology products are built to integrate. This is required to keep a real-time view of incidents without losing time switching between security systems. 
• Cybersecurity: New schools focus on cybersecurity well before they’re open to students. As entry points, doors and evacuations are part of the Internet of Things (IoT), many steps are taken to prevent cyber attacks.

3. Adaptive environments

Future school construction is taking a proactive approach to account for multiple environmental and physical security threats. From dangerous weather conditions to violent intruders, environments must be built to handle the worst-case scenarios:

• Solar power backups are used to counter any outages caused by extreme weather conditions
• Smart floor maps are activated during emergencies, directing students and staff to safe zones depending on the type of security threat 
• to manage the threat of violent intruders. Bullet-resistant windows are being installed that double as emergency exits. Whiteboards that double as safe rooms are also installed, giving students a safe place to hide until the security threat is intercepted.

Conclusion

Parents across America are understandably worried about the state of our schools. Security concerns are consistently high in America, but they have been amplified in recent years. An alarming Government report in 2020 stated that 54% of schools were in urgent need of reconstruction. Students and staff are at risk of numerous hazards when buildings deteriorate. Future buildings must address several structural, environmental and physical security concerns to build schools that give students a safe place to learn. 

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ATLANTA — As students begin to head back to school, safety and security concerns are among some school district officials’ top growing priorities and concerns across the Atlanta Metro area.

The Fulton County school district, for example, is investing in Avigilon, a high-tech video surveillance system that will be installed in over 105 public school buildings at a cost of $4.6 million, according to the .

“The basic idea is to have one place to collaborate on emergency situations,” said Paul Hildreth, safety coordinator for Fulton County Schools, to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Safety comes in all forms — weather advisories, traffic alerts, as well as criminal activity.”

In addition to adding video surveillance, emergency alert systems, and more police and safety officers in Atlanta Metro school districts, recent construction projects like those in DeKalb County have incorporated several safety and security features across the district.

Fulton County is reportedly the fourth-largest school district in the state and has the funds for Avigilon’s elaborate system, but safety is an expense for all Metro school districts regardless of size. Some districts, like Gwinnett, Clayton and Henry counties, added more school police officers. Others like DeKalb County, which is Georgia’s third-largest school system, have invested in safety and security improvements in schools across their district.

Twenty metal detectors will be installed initially in five high schools throughout the district via a pilot program: Cross Keys High School (Region 1), Lakeside High School (Region 2), Stone Mountain High School (Region 3), Martin Luther King Jr. High School (Region 4), Towers High School (Region 5).

DeKalb County is investing $230 million into new facilities and additions, which will include two new elementary schools, in order to counter overcrowding in what is known as the Cross Keys Cluster, according to its .

According to DCSD board meeting , the new construction of school buildings now includes roll-down doors that help to increase security if a non-authorized individual enters the school premises.

A report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.

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MIDVALE, Utah — Anyone who has ever muddled with programming will know the turn of phrase “feature or bug?” It’s the industry’s glib way of spinning what might be an interesting deviation in the code. The same applies to interior design when it comes to schools — at least according to a recent newscast on New4Utah regarding a pending $100 million retrofit to Hillcrest High School (HHS) in Midvale, Utah, which is still in the design phase. The question at hand is “Are large windows a design feature or potentially fatal flaw?”

Included in the proposed design is plenty of “” in the form of large windows, which the area’s Canyon School District has been employing throughout its schools. The premise holds that natural light is not only good for defraying electricity and infrastructure costs but it’s also healthier for students and promotes a positive learning environment. At least one teacher, however, believes the new window design makes students and faculty vulnerable to school shooting incidents, according to the report.

Katie Bullock, a language arts teacher at the high school, candidly told the TV station, that she believes greater visibility of students essentially makes them easier to target and that the design represents “negligence” on the part of the district. Jeff Haney, a Canyons School District spokesperson disagreed with the observation, countering that “These are schools, not prisons.” Though there were discussions of reducing the size of the window to 10 by 6 feet, Bullock pointed out that they will not be made of bullet-proof glass, which moots the point of shrinking the windows in the first place.

HHS principal Gregory Leavitt posted a message on the school’s following a recent parent and student public forum. “We had over 250 students share their thoughts and opinions about HHS. Our parent meeting had 25 participants, and we are hoping for more next time. We have published a summary of our student and patron comments and the HHS response for your review on our web page. We hope you take the time to look them over and join us in our next public forum,” wrote Leavitt.

To that end, the district and  Architects, a Salt Lake City-based firm that designed the proposed upgrades, will share renderings of the new HHS on April 18. The public is invited to come look over the architectural drawings and speak with school officials and architects. Construction of the new school is slated to begin this Spring and could take up to three years to complete.

HHS has a total enrollment of about 2,250 students and is ranked No. 7 in the state of Utah. Students from HHS participated in a walkout one week after 17 people were killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings in Parkland, Fla., in February. In February of the previous year, the school went on lockdown when an anonymous caller phoned the police to say that a gunman was barricaded inside the school and firing shots. The incident turned out to be a hoax.

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You know the scenario: A small geek gets shoved into his locker by some meathead only to suffer the further indignity of being locked inside of it. It’s a staple sight gag of movies and TV, but does it really happen — can a student really get locked in a locker?

That would be an emphatic “Yes!” if you believe the posts at the self-billed “front page of the Internet,” Reddit, an online, crowdsourced news site, qua bulletin board, that has long been a repository for teen angst. One headline says says it all: “.”

Apparently, a petite young woman in the 1990s, who identified herself online as “Nixie97,” decided to prank her boyfriend by leaping from his locker when he next opened it. She knew his combination and let herself in, closed the door and waited. The problem was it that was a Friday afternoon and the boyfriend never returned to his locker. In fact, no one came near it until the following week. She survived but not before enduring 60 hours of unimaginable discomfort. Beyond the cramped space, she had no water or food, or convenient way to relieve herself.

Such experiences can be as harrowing as they are preventable. Obviously, students shouldn’t lock themselves or others into school lockers and not just for the mortal danger it presents. There are legal considerations as well, according to , J.D, the executive director of Legal Kid Inc.

“As funny as this may be in a movie, the physical act of throwing, pushing or stuffing a human being into a locker can lead to criminal charges carrying the potential of prison time. Then come the ‘what ifs’ — meaning what if someone gets seriously hurt, lands in the hospital or even dies as a result?’” asked Matulli, author of the children’s legal-themed book “Plessy: A Shoemaker Makes His Mark.”

When it comes to law, an analogous issue, being locked in a car trunk, resulted in car manufacturers being required to feature a standard glow-in-the-dark trunk-release lever to open the trunk from the inside. Since 2002, whether someone has been kidnapped or a child unwittingly traps themselves while playing, the mandate has seen preventable deaths drop to 20 per year — and those are in cars with trunks that predate the 2002 order.

This begs the question, why are there no interior mechanisms to release a locker if a student is trapped inside and what can they do to get out?

Richard Shaffer, business development manager of Digilock, a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance electronic locks and locker security solutions, asked his colleagues and none of them had had any experience with the scenario.

“The solution is going to be the same whether the lock on the locker is mechanical or electronic — some facilities person with a master or override key will have to be summoned to let the kid out of the locker,” said Shaffer.

It seems the only recourse besides hoping a school staffer or a heroic schoolmate comes to their rescue is to prevent students from getting trapped in a locker in the first place.

“We teach kids sports, instruments, dance, etc., but each and every day we fail in schools to teach them law, we are failing them,” said Matulli. “How can one be a conscious citizen without the basic understanding of the essential laws meant to keep order in our society? This example of being placed in a locker is an excellent opportunity to do so.”

Ever have any insights from inside or outside the locker? Let us know below!

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