Safety and Security
- How will safety and security be addressed?
The Core Team’s Guiding Principle of “Our schools and sites are safe, secure and comfortable for all users” will ensure safety and security are at the forefront of facility decisions. They have also identified secured entrances, exits and spaces as “Must-Haves” for every school. User social-emotional learning and well-being have been identified as factors that impact the feeling of safety and security in the building.
DLR Group will consider different options in planning for safety. Walls that include large windows or full glass can be a part of a school’s safety and security plan, if designed intentionally and with the overall environment of the building in mind. Creating sightlines through key areas of the building can help improve safety, when used appropriately, by increasing awareness and oversight of what is happening inside and outside the building. In addition, glass walls are often paired with areas of visual refuge that obscure key parts of the space to provide safe movement or sheltering in place. Glass itself can also be treated for varying levels of resistance. Open areas of a building may be outfitted with several types of security features, including compartmentalization, to break up these spaces and slow any intruders in a worst-case-scenario.
Transparency and openness within a building have been shown to improve learner relationships with one another and with adults in the building, creating a better atmosphere for the school. Improving the school atmosphere and sense of trust and safety are key components of reducing the overall risk for a security incident, to begin with.
These choices must be made with the District’s overall safety plan in mind, so that the design aligns with how they intend to handle safety and security protocols, and so that users know how to stay safe. This safety plan also must include input from local law enforcement regarding how they need to respond to an incident, and often includes input from the community around the school, to involve them in sheltering or responding to a situation if needed. Specific details of the architectural security choices and components are kept private to the District, to increase their effectiveness.
