Before you pack up those lunch boxes and backpacks and send the kids off to school, make sure school safety is on your radar this school year. As a parent, it is important that you are certain the school you have your child enrolled in has the proper security measures in place. Violence has erupted on school premises in recent years, so it is more pertinent than ever for you to be aware of the visitor management system your child’s school has implemented.

School Safety Checklist – Visitor Management System Musts

If you know the importance of a visitor management system but are unsure about what makes for a good one, be sure to reference our checklist. Here, we have included some pointers about what makes for a secure school safety system.

School Safety Tip #1 – Software

The proper visitor management system software is crucial to the safekeeping of a school’s students, staff, and the building itself. When it comes to software, there should be no shortcuts. Each system’s software should be comprehensive, providing complete tracking information about visitor registration, badge printing, and reporting. As a safety precaution, it should also include an employee’s on-site time and attendance, asset and package management, access control integration, and web-based pre-registration of school employees.

School Safety Tip #2 – Safety Badges

The use of safety badges is a crucial part of any school visitor management system, so as far as badges are concerned, there should be absolutely no exceptions. Any person or visitor on the school premises needs to present an ID before receiving a visitor’s badge and being allowed to enter the grounds. And in addition to enforcing the use of safety badges, visitors and employees’ time should be tracked using an integrated time-tracking tool.

School Safety Tip #3 – Video Surveillance

If an educational institution can afford a more advanced school safety system, video surveillance devices should be installed inside and outside of the buildings and software solutions should also be used for automatic tracking. Some software programs allow badge printing, online registration, easy reporting, and integrated access control, while others make school buildings smarter by knowing who enters the premises at all times. Having an effective visitor management system in place helps easily identify building trends after setting the automated systems. These automated systems can provide reports on whether or not security plans and access control efforts are effective, increasing overall school safety.

School Safety Tip #4 – Parent Orientation

Before each school year begins, a parent orientation should be held. During this meeting time, parents need to be informed about how education administrators implement their visitor management system, how the system operates, and explain its proven effectiveness. Bringing parents up to speed on this crucial security measure should help give them peace of mind and, in the event on an on-campus emergency, enable them to provide authorities with additional information about the existing visitor management system. Educators should be careful about divulging too much information, though, because doing so could result in a potential breach of security.

So, whether your kids have or have not already started up school for the year, it is your responsibility to be informed about what type of security visitor management system your child’s school uses. Being informed about this is essential to the safety of your child. To learn information about how ACS can help increase school safety efforts, contact us at  (913) 248-8828 today.