Ashley Davis, from Punch Alert and Stacey Porter, Owner of Porter Global Security, LLC continued their webinar series: Leading Through Change. During this webinar, best practices were discussed as well as how they could be mitigated to ensure school campus safety during the Covid-19 pandemic.
#campus #safety #risk #schools #covid19 #Sentry #preventionisbetterthancure
Link to Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz_lzsOtbtg&ab_channel=PunchAlert
2020 has been an interesting year, to say the least. Organizations and individuals have been required to adapt and continuously change month-by-month as covid-19 cases mandate new security practices and operations. Unfortunately, school campuses have been no exception to this current climate as they struggle to find normalcy between virtual and campus classes. In order to provide some guidance, Ashley Davis & Stacey Porter reviewed some crucial practices campuses should follow in order to keep their students, staff, and faculty safe at all times.
Practices & Protocols
1) Enhance monitoring for properties that remain closed or have few staff on-premises
K-12 schools may be reopening, but many classrooms will still remain closed for part or even most of the year. To ensure they are secure from theft and vandalism while staff and students are away, school districts should consider adopting advanced security surveillance systems to discourage unauthorized access.
With the right security system, administrators can view live-feeds remotely on a computer, tablet, or smartphone and alert the authorities in case of suspicious activity. In addition to preventative effects, surveillance systems can also be used to record footage and assist with investigations in case of break-ins and property theft.
2) Keep a record of foot traffic and student activity
Reducing the spread of COVID-19 depends on catching cases early and contact tracing whenever possible. Schools will need to act quickly in the event that a student or a member of the staff tests positive for the virus. While true contact tracing may be difficult, keeping a record of student movement and foot traffic on school premises will help determine how many students may have come into contact with the virus in the event of a positive test result.
Footage and records of student movement will also enable administrators to alert individuals who need to be tested before they spread the virus to family members and neighbors. Adopting monitoring solutions will also give administrators visibility into which areas are most heavily trafficked, to help facilitate social distancing and understand which areas need to be monitored to enforce social distancing measures.
3) No Assemblies, Sports Games or Parent-Teacher Conferences
Students can’t mix in large groups, and parents probably won’t be allowed in school buildings either.
4) Class Sizes of 12 or Fewer
Reducing social contact by putting children in the smallest groups possible. Assuming there are sufficient testing and contact tracing to reduce the spread of infection, it’s better if that student’s been in contact with one group of 15 students versus 100 students.
5) Staggered Schedules
Reducing class size drastically would probably mean staggering schedules.
6) Younger Kids First
Those students are normally with one main classroom teacher, meaning fewer changes to existing scheduling and staffing. On the other hand, younger children are more likely to be putting their hands in their mouths and on their faces and, therefore, potentially spreading infection.
7) Adopt surveillance tools such as Sentry/thermal cameras that track temperatures to monitor for cases of COVID-19
To comply with local guidelines that aim to protect the health of staff and students, most school districts will require face coverings when accessing campus facilities. Many will also look to implement temperature checks at school entrances to prevent those with COVID-19 symptoms from entering the classroom.
Instead of conducting temperature scans manually, physical security technologies such as thermal cameras can help. By using thermal cameras to gauge temperature ranges, schools can scan the body temperatures of students and personnel as they enter the school and monitor changes at any number of checkpoints.
8) Stepped-up Health and Hygiene Measures
A school building is not what you would call an ideal place in the middle of a pandemic. How do you make sure there’s a plan in place ensuring the people walking in are not spreading anything? This is accomplished by widespread and frequent testing for the coronavirus. These include wearing masks, temperature checks, hand-washing, frequent sanitization, and social distancing rules enforced even for very small children.
Whatever physical security measures your school district decides to adopt, Porter Global Security, LLC can help. Porter Global Security, LLC connects schools directly with experts to determine the unique physical security solution suited for your schools.
Streamlining Communication
Keeping Everyone Connected and Informed
1) Connecting & Engaging Stakeholders (MAP YOUR STAKEHOLDERS)
- Consolidated list of stakeholder groups
- Identifying what you can expect
- Determining your means of communication
- Understanding what matters to them, what their expectations are, and the why behind it all
2) Effective Internal Communication
“Research indicates that workers have three primary needs: interesting work, recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on in the company.” – Zig Ziglar
- Keeps your people more informed
- Helps build your organization’s work culture
- Increases employee engagement
- Creates transparency and trust among the entire company
- Provides more opportunities for people within the company to learn, be trained, and feel connected
- Creates an environment open to feedback, debate, and discussion
- Improves overall employee experience
3) Internal Communication Strategy Tips
Without an internal communications strategy, your company’s values get lost, employees are confused about their employer, they are (and feel) less informed, less productive, and much less engaged, etc.
- Explore and Analyze Your Current Strategy
- Get Your Messaging Consistent
- Provide a Platform or Way for Employees to be Able to Share Their Voices
- Avoid Communication Overload
- Embrace Technology to Streamline Communications
- Nail Down Important KPIs
- Evaluate Communications Progress
4) Effective External Communication
- It’s integral that the organization implement, educate, and train on the company policies that guide employees on what kind of information to share outside the company, who to share it with and how to share it.
- One must always assume that everything will be made public. Consistency and transparency is important, as is strategic dissemination and communication. Assume that what employees know external stakeholders will know and vice-versa.
- Monitoring and being strategically proactive and proactively reactive is essential.
5) Embrace Technology to Streamline Communications
- What is the most effective means of communication to reach our stakeholder groups directly?
- Comparing and contrasting against what communication solutions do you currently use and where are the gaps?
Security Threats or Vulnerability Assessments should be part of any responsible school campus administrative program. Issues that could be overlooked can leave schools vulnerable to lawsuits, damage, theft, and possible violence. Being proactive and establishing policies along effective communication is crucial for a safe environment. We owe this much to all the honorable educators and amazing students who have been present and committed every step of the way.
Learn more about what to expect when a Security Assessment is conducted at your facility.
*SENTRY
SENTRY (Safe Entry) is the easiest way to empower your community to self-report before safely arriving on-site each day. Built into Punch Alert or as its own stand-alone app.
- DAILY SURVEYS: Each day before arriving, staff complete a health survey. Questions are customizable and can be tailored towards your organization.
- PHOTO VERIFICATION: Respondents submit a self photo with visual validation of their body temperature. Integration with Thermal Mirrors is also available.
- SENTRY PASS: After successfully completing the survey, staff are automatically issued a SENTRY Pass with scannable, programmable QR codes.
- CHECK IN: Keep track of who is on property by enabling scanning of SENTRY passes to check in staff. No extra hardware required, any smart device will work.
- REVIEW REPORTS: View detailed summary reports filtered by day, time, role, list, pass status, and check-in status. Passes can even be revoked as needed.
Links to Resources
Punch Alert
https://punchalert.com/
Sentry
https://punchalert.com/sentry/
