This information on protecting school occupants, buildings, and grounds is coordinated with the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools of the U.S. Department of Education.



NCEF provides a free checklist that combines the nation's best school facility assessment measures into one online source for assessing the safety and security of school buildings and grounds. It includes over 400 measures covering school surroundings, school grounds, buildings and facilities, communications systems, building access control and surveillance, utility systems, mechanical systems, and emergency power. The checklist is updated frequently and may be used for planning and designing new facilities or assessing existing ones.




CPTED 101: Crime Prevention through Environmental Design – The Fundamentals for Schools. Discusses the concepts of natural surveillance, natural access control, and territoriality as a means to improve school security.

Door Locking Options in Schools. School door locking options and the limitations imposed on them by building and fire codes.

Earthquakes and Schools. Earthquake basics, preparing for an earthquake, reducing nonstructural hazards, seismic upgrading, and appendices on nonstructural hazards, past earthquake damage to U.S. schools, and schools as post-earthquake shelters.

Emergency Management Standards for Schools. Discusses emergency management standards for school use and lists standards recommended by FEMA's National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Emergency Response Information for School Facilities. Information needed for managing school buildings, grounds, occupants, and rescue and recovery personnel during and after a crisis.

Flooding and Schools. What flooding can do, preventing or mitigating flood damage, preparing for and responding to flood emergencies, recovering from a flood, and schools as post-flood shelters.

Improving School Access Control. A wide range of access control measures for thinking about and devising better ways of controlling access to school buildings and grounds.

An Investigation of Best Practices for Evacuating and Sheltering Individuals with Special Needs and Disabilities. Response to the June 2007 General Accountability Office report GAO-07-609 concerning evacuating and sheltering students with special needs and disabilities.

Low-Cost Security Measures for School Facilities. Fifty school safety and security measures that may be implemented at little or no cost and without the use of complex technology.

Mass Notification for Higher Education. Things to consider when designing a mass notification system, and the pros and cons of current notification devices.

Mitigating Hazards in School Facilities. Guidance for making school safety and security assessments and for planning, funding, and implementing safety and security improvements. Includes 25 downloadable, subject-specific NCEF Assessment Guides.

School Security Technologies. Current information on access control, surveillance, weapons detection, communications, alarm, and emergency notification system technologies.

Selecting Security Technology Providers. Describes a process for selecting security technology consultants and systems integrators. Includes two appendices, "Identifying Desired System Attributes" and "Identifying Desired System Components."

Severe Weather Planning for Schools. Understanding, preparing for, and coping with weather emergencies, including severe thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes and storm surge, flooding, and extreme heat and cold. Six appendices contain detailed weather information.

Wildfires and Schools. How a building catches fire, determining your school's risk, creating a survivable space, importance of maintenance, the fire resistant school, meeting code requirements, related flood and mudslide risks, and an appendix on wildfire response.



Recent articles about safe and healthy school facilities from newspapers across the country:

West Virginia District Considers Removing Swings From All School Playgrounds
Herald-Dispatch, September 01, 2010

Schools Rethink Equipment After Playground Death
Washington Post, August 25, 2010

Preliminary Tests Find Elevated PCB Levels in 3 New York City Public Schools
New York Times, August 18, 2010

Smart Phones Provide
WRDW.com, August 10, 2010

Texas Schools Act on CPSC Orders to Repair Risky Light Poles
Texas Construction, August 06, 2010

School Security Projects Under Way: Replacing Doors and Installing Intruder Locks
NorthJersey.com, August 05, 2010

Burlington, Vermont Schools Consider Surveillance Camera Policy
Burlington Free Press, August 01, 2010

Are Washington Schools Earthquake-Safe? Pilot Project Aims to Find Out
Ear to the Ground, July 30, 2010

Kentucky Schools Get Upgrades in Notification Technology
Daily News, July 17, 2010

California Law Exempts Most School Remodels From Fire Sprinklers
Mercury News, July 10, 2010

PCBs Will Be Removed from University of Massachusetts Residence Complex
Boston Globe, July 08, 2010

Stadium Lighting Poles Recalled; Many Defective Structures Along School Playing Fields
American-Statesman, July 06, 2010

 

Upcoming conferences and workshops on school safety and security:

Webinar--Prevent Air Pollution at the Source: Schools Chemical Cleanout
September 15, 2010


American School Health Association Conference: Healthy Students...Successful Learners
October 13, 2010 - October 16, 2010
Kansas City, Missouri

EPA's Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools National Symposium
January 13, 2011 - January 15, 2011
Washington, D.C.

 

Key publications on safe school facilities:

Preventing Violence and Crime in America's Schools: From Put Downs to Lock Downs.
Greenwood/Praeger Press, Santa Barbara, CA, 2009

Ensuring Quality School Facilities and Security Technologies: Effective Strategies for Creating Safer Schools and Communities.
Hamilton Fish Insitute on School and Community Violence, Washington, DC; Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR, 2008

Educational Facilities Disaster and Crisis Management Guidebook.
Florida Dept. of Education, Tallahassee, 2007

Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities.
U.S. Department of Education, 2007

Security Design Considerations for Instructional Facilities.
Texas State University, San Marcos, 2006

Safe and Healthy School Environments.
Oxford University Press, New York, 2006

Security Planning and Design: A Guide for Architects and Building Design Professionals.
John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2005

Design Guide for Improving School Safety in Earthquakes, Floods, and High Winds.
Federal Emergency Management Administration, 2004

Jane's Safe Schools Planning Guide for All Hazards.
Jane's Information Group, Alexandria, VA., 2004

Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks.
Federal Emergency Management Administration, 2003

 

Recent magazine and journal articles about safe school facilities:

Security System Blends Keys and Credentials.
Doors and Hardware, July 2010

Night Lights.
Building Operating Management, July 2010

A Drop of Prevention. [Fire Sprinkler System Retrofits]
Building Operating Management, July 2010

Night Lights.
Building Operating Management, July 2010

Safe and Secure.
American School and University, June 2010

Is It an Emergency if No One is Listening?
College Planning and Management, June 2010

Critical Communications.
School Planning and Management, June 2010

Earth, Wind, and Fire: Managing Risk in Today's Schools, Part 1: Fire!
School Business Affairs, June 2010

 

NCEF lists of continuously updated links, books, and journal articles on safe school facilities topics:

Access Control Systems in School Buildings

Assessing Flood- and Wind-Damaged Schools

Campus Safety and Security

CPTED for Schools: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Disaster Preparedness for Schools

Fire Safety in Schools

Healthy School Environments

Safety and Security Assessment of School Facilities

Safety and Security Design for Schools

School Preparedness for Natural Disasters

School Preparedness for Terrorism

Seismic Design and Retrofit for Schools

State and Local School Emergency Planning Guides