This is certainly something that no parent wants to think about, but the realities of our time require that we ask these tough questions. Is your child’s school safe? This article in Campus Safety Magazine discusses how safety and security window film technologies are being integrated into schools to increase the safety and help stopped a forced entry. If you have any questions about safety and security window films and how this technology can be implemented in your local school, give us a call and we would be happy to discuss it with you.
Story by George J. Tanber for Campus Safety Magazine
More Schools Upgrade Campus Security with Window Film
On Dec. 14, 2014, two families of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings filed suit against the town of Newtown, Conn., and the Newtown Public Schools Board. The suit cited lax security on the day 20 students and six adults were shot and killed.
Among the issues raised in the complaint was the ability for gunman Adam Lanza to enter the school after shooting out front glass windows near the school’s offices and the lack of bullet-proof windows in the building.
Sandy Hook has been the primary motivation for school districts nationwide to increase security in their buildings. The initiatives have included adding and upgrading surveillance cameras, improved phone systems, magnetic card entry systems and more secure entryways and other vulnerable building entry points.
Considerable discussion and debate has taken place among school officials over how best to secure entryways and other entry points from intruders. Installation of shatter-proof windows and entryway reconstruction has proven to be cost-prohibitive for many schools. Increasingly, they have turned to safety and security window film installation as a reliable and cost-effective alternative.
“There was no way we could afford to replace the windows, so film was the economical way to go,” says Amy Campbell, safety coordinator at Geneva [Ill.] Community Unit School District 304. In February, the school district, located near Chicago, had safety and security window film installed in the entryways and on vulnerable first-floor glass in nine school buildings.
Geneva is one of at least 22 known school districts around the country that have included safety and security window film as part of their security upgrades, but the number appears to be quickly growing.
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