Guest Post by Lesley Coe, CTO, Cardinal Gibbons High School
Safety is a hot topic on school campuses at every level. But while discussions often focus on the worst-case scenario of an active school shooter, the reality is that safety incidents cover a wide array of incidents, such as medical emergencies, student altercations, and weather-related events. Even events happening near, but not on, school grounds, need to be considered, such as nearby police or fire department activity.
Schools need to have robust plans to address all of these potential situations. Whatever the emergency, schools must be prepared to respond intentionally, communicate a clear response plan to everyone on campus, and interact with external parties, such as first responders, as needed. It’s a lot.
Here, I share learnings based on my experience developing a comprehensive safety and security plan for my school.
Be proactive, not reactive, when making purchases and plans.
Implementing any new system requires careful planning and evaluation; this is especially true when selecting and deploying safety solutions. The last thing you want to do is react to heightened anxieties or let the fear of a catastrophic event dictate your entire safety plan. Active shooter events, while horrific, are not the most likely threat we will face.
School safety plans should be holistic. At Cardinal Gibbons, our security team, composed of myself, our network administrator, our director of safety and security, a former police officer, and a few consultants, were focused on balancing planning for major incidents while also addressing everyday safety concerns.
There are many safety-related technologies out there, but simplicity is the key to effective emergency communication. Pressure from parents, community members, and others, can be high to bring in new technologies including access control and weapons detection solutions. Legislation, such as Alyssa’s Law which mandates that all public primary and secondary schools implement silent panic alerts connected directly to local law enforcement, may even require certain purchases. While these may be the right choices for your organization, you must think through how you will incorporate them into your existing environment, which brings me to the next point.
Any new safety technology must work within your existing infrastructure.
Regardless of the safety technologies you choose, it is critical that all of them work together. Having a bunch of disparate technologies that fail to work together means your emergency communications will be less effective than they could be. Consider the ability of any new technology to integrate with your existing systems and infrastructure before moving forward. Prioritize those that do and your emergency protocols will be more efficient and effective. You are also likely to save money in the long run.
In our case, when it came time to consider new emergency management technologies, we looked at our existing infrastructure. We determined we wanted to have a panic alert that was accessible to everyone, regardless of smartphone ownership, we found Raptor Alerts, which allowed alerts to be initiated from any laptop on our 1:1 campus.
We already had Vivi implemented in classrooms and common areas as both a core instructional tool and for digital signage. When we discovered that Raptor Alerts and Vivi work together, allowing an emergency initiated in Raptor to launch visual emergency alerts on displays via Vivi, it made sense to integrate these two systems.
No matter how well-rehearsed our drills are, you can never predict how individuals will react. In a school, you will always have a substitute teacher, parent, or other visitor on campus who is unfamiliar with your protocols. Silent, visual alerts displayed on classroom or common area screens provide crucial information to everyone, giving them the context-specific information they need to act quickly and appropriately.
We have also integrated our PA system with Raptor, which lets us send audio instructions simultaneously with silent alerts on screens via Vivi and notifications to cell phones. Integration simplifies and enhances our response procedures, ensuring everyone receives clear instructions through multiple channels.
As a tech person, I appreciate the simplicity of the single-button integration. Managing multiple systems and complex procedures is simply not feasible in a real emergency. But as a tech person, I also understand that technology only does so much; people are the foundation of any quality safety plan.
Invest in training your people.
Situational awareness–the ability to understand what is happening around you and respond appropriately to potential threats or hazards–is essential. It encompasses observation, orientation, decision-making, and action (the OODA Loop).
Your teachers and other staff all need to be familiar with the full slate of the technologies used during an emergency. And everyone, including students, needs to be familiar with the safety protocols for different emergency situations – whether lockdown, holds, or evacuations. Drills help everyone build muscle memory – making it more likely that people will respond quickly and appropriately in a real emergency. Drills should also mimic real-life emergencies as much as possible. Practicing for a variety of scenarios is crucial.
For example, we recently had a medical emergency right before dismissal. With carpool lines, teenage drivers, buses, and pedestrians, dismissal time can be chaotic. We made the decision to activate our medical team while also initiating a “hold” emergency to ensure emergency vehicles could access our building if needed. This experience emphasized how important it is to have flexible protocols that can be adapted as needed to specific situations. It also made us realize that drills and training needed to be more varied to help prepare for a wider range of potential threats.
Safety plans are never done.
School safety is not a one-time project, but an ongoing, deliberate commitment. As the medical emergency scenario made clear, we can always get better. We must continuously evaluate and adapt our safety protocols to address evolving threats and challenges. As a technology leader, it is critical to stay on top of new technologies as they emerge At Cardinal Gibbons, we conduct regular safety audits to assess the effectiveness of our current protocols and identify gaps. These audits include both internal reviews and external assessments by safety experts.
School leaders are responsible for maximizing the safety of staff and students. Adopting a holistic approach, investing in training your people, and prioritizing technologies that work together, help build a safer environment for learning.
About the Author
Lesley Coe is the Chief Technology Officer at a 1:1 laptop high school, overseeing a tech team that supports 1,606 students and 180 staff members. With a focus on leveraging technology to enhance education, Lesley leads professional development for teachers and optimizes the school’s technology infrastructure. As a member of the school safety team, Lesley plays a key role in integrating new technologies to strengthen safety strategies. Combining day-to-day IT operations with long-term planning, Lesley brings a comprehensive and future-oriented approach to technology management.
