School Security News and Trends—May 1, 2018

School security has never been more critical, or more front-and-center in America’s consciousness. And for good reason—16 weeks into 2018, we have already witnessed 20 school shootings.

But with more awareness comes more opportunity to do something about it. Here’s a selection of must-read school security articles from the last few weeks.

A Pennsylvania School District Is Arming Its Teachers With 600 Miniature Baseball Bats

Via CNN.com. After the shooting in Parkland, Florida, Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania began developing a district-wide school safety plan. Several security improvements were identified, but the one making headlines is this: equipping all 500 teachers with miniature wood baseball bats. What were they thinking? Find out here.

Our take: When you don’t have the right data, you won’t implement the right solutions. When security recommendations that aren’t data-driven are combined with knee-jerk environments, you get ridiculous solutions that won’t do any good. It’s absolutely critical that risk assessments and corrective actions are data-driven.

AAR Lessons Learned: Contemporary Ways to Enhance School Safety

Via American Security Today. Whenever there is a school shooting, lessons learned from the tragedy are compiled in a detailed report, called an After-Action Report (AAR). AARs are a treasure trove of wisdom. They provide a roadmap that can equip schools, police departments, and communities to be better prepared and provide better responses for better outcomes. But time after time, we don’t take advantage of AARs. Here are cogent observations and recommendations to change that.

Our take: This article is on-target. There’s an egregious lack of data sharing in the security industry. The more we move to digital technologies, the more effectively we’ll be able to leverage data to mitigate risk and keep schools safer. Circadian Risk is on the forefront of that movement, and we hope you’ll join us!

Appropriations Bill Includes an Immediate $25M for School Security Technology

Via Security Sales & Integration. President Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill on March 23 that would immediately provide $25 million for school security technology and equipment, as well as coordination with law enforcement to enhance response capabilities. Get the details here.

Our take: This is a great first step, but it’s critical to get the best use of that money. It’s tempting to buy the first solution you come across, because of the feeling of urgency, or to buy the most impressive, sexiest solution. But in the end, that could just be a waste of money and resources.

Circadian Risk is a data-driven solution that helps you objectively identify your most critical security gaps. We can also provide a way to fund improvements at your school so you're not limited to the $25M grant.

[embed]

[/embed]

Get more must-read content for your security consulting business—subscribe to the Circadian Risk blog.