As a parent, your top priority when your child is at school is their safety. Recent media coverage has raised public awareness about safety concerns and incidents in schools worldwide. To ensure your child, and all students, are protected, schools must have reliable security measures in place. One key method used to safeguard students is a school access control system.

Modern school security systems are designed to allow access only to authorized individuals while keeping out those who shouldn’t be on school grounds. This article will explain how a school access control system helps protect students, restricts entry to unauthorized persons, and provides peace of mind for parents.

1. What Are School Access Control Systems?

School access control systems are technological solutions that manage and monitor entry to school buildings, restricted areas, and other sensitive zones. These systems could consist of physical access points like doors and gates that can be secured using various methods, including key cards, biometric scans (fingerprints and facial recognition), or PIN codes. Coram AI expands these systems by providing seamless integrations with existing infrastructure that come with real-time monitoring and an AI-driven alerts to detect unauthorized access and activity in real-time.

Besides these points of entry, access control systems are frequently integrated with other security systems, including video surveillance cameras, alarms, and communication systems, to provide a well-rounded approach to security. Coram’s AI-assisted video surveillance cameras offer automated threat detection, which provides another layer of security in schools.

2. How Access Control Systems Protect Your Child

Preventing Unauthorized Entry

A major advantage of access control systems is their ability to prevent trespassers from entering the school. Schools have historically been located in open settings, allowing anyone to walk through the doors. Being open is great for creating a feeling of freedom around a school, but it does present security issues for schools and overall safety of students and staff. Access control systems mitigate that risk by restricting all unauthorized individuals from accessing certain areas of the building, but allows authorized individuals, such as students, teachers, and staff to enter.

Specifically, biometric identifiers, whether they are facial recognition or fingerprint scans, can ensure that only those authorized in the school have permitted access. If you think about it, the odds of strangers or threats entering the school site are then significantly decreased.

Restricting Access to Sensitive Areas

Access control systems not only keep your entry points protected but also provides security at restricted areas on campus, including administrative offices, storage, and classroom material areas. These restricted areas may contain sensitive materials, valuables, or student data, which increase the temptation of someone entering them without authorization.

Using smart locks or keyless entry systems, only faculty and staff have access to restricted areas, which helps keep students and sensitive data safe.

Real-Time Monitoring

Another important element of contemporary school access control systems is the provision of continuous monitoring of who is moving in and out of areas. Security personnel and staff can be informed of activities at the point of entry and also receive instantaneous notifications of unusual or unauthorized activities occurring in real-time. 

This monitoring system allows school administrators to track who is on campus at a specific time. If an unplanned event or emergency occurs, the ability to obtain and access this information in a timely manner can greatly enhance the school’s response time.

3. Peace of Mind for Parents

As a parent, the safety of your child at school is always a number one concern. School access control systems provide parents with peace of mind by giving them confidence that their child is in a safe environment. Parents can rest easy knowing their child’s school is taking proactive measures to protect the students. 

In addition, many modern school access control systems have mobile applications that can alert parents with updates on school status when needed.  For example, if a school is placed into a lockdown situation due to an immediate safety risk, parents can be immediately notified through the app and informed of the circumstances, ultimately giving peace of mind to parents.

4. Integration with Other Security Measures

School access control systems are often part of a larger system of security measures, working together to provide the highest level of safety for both students and staff. For example:

• Video Monitoring: Access control systems can work with security monitoring systems to provide live video access to security teams, so they can determine who enters the school building and potentially identify suspicious behavior in real time.
  
• Emergency Management Systems: If an emergency occurs, access control systems can lock doors or activate alarms so an efficient response to the emergency can happen. There is potential for these systems to be integrated into other emergency management systems, for example, as a communication tool to contact parents and notify law enforcement.
  
• Alarm Systems: Alarms may automatically trigger based on violations that have occurred, such as someone attempting to access a restricted space without authorization.

The use of access control along with these other security systems will allow schools to create a collective and responsive environment of security that improves safety outcomes.

5. Improving Emergency Response Times

In an emergency situation, such as a fire or medical emergency or security situation, access control systems can help reduce the time it takes for emergency responders, staff, and law enforcement officials to reach the emergency. For example, 

• Immediate Access to Entry Locations: Emergency personnel can use their key cards, biometric authentication, or emergency override to quickly access educational facilities without having to worry about foregoing manual security processes.
  
• Lockdown Procedures: If there is a security emergency involving an intruder, an access control system can lock down designated areas of the school to protect students and staff while emergency personnel deal with the intruder.
  

6. Customizable Access for Different Groups

Access control systems can be customized to the various groups asserted in the school environment, including students, teachers, staff, and visitors. For example: 

• Students and teachers can be authorized to enter based on their assigned ID cards or scanned biometrics.
  
• While staff can gain access to restricted areas, including the principal’s office or maintenance rooms.
  
• For visitors, these systems will reduce access to only public areas, in the front office or visitor lobby, and could use visitor passes. 

However, the level of customization is what guarantees that only authorized personnel will have access to certain areas, reducing the possible security breach points.

Conclusion

School access control systems are a key component of safety and security at educational institutions in Washington, NC, and as such, are a part of the safety of children and staff. Access control systems work to prevent unauthorized access to a facility, give real-time information on who is at a facility, and augment other security systems to help create a safe school environment. 

School access control systems provide assurance to parents that their child is safe at school and that possible security threats will be identified and dealt with expeditiously. As our schools continue to emphasize safety and security, effective access control systems for schools will be an increasingly significant piece of the overall safety and security plan for our schools and help earn the trust of the families our schools serve.