As is common at the end of one year and the beginning of another it is a time to predict what the new year may bring. In the school security and safety world, I have both expectations and aspirations for 2026.
Integrating Mental Health Support with Security
On the positive side, I expect a continuing focus on student mental health with the integration of evidence-based behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) programs with schools’ multi-tiered systems of support. The outcome will be a much more robust prevention effort integrated with early intervention and student support leading to an improved school culture.
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Coalescence in School Security Standards
Equally positive and highly encouraging over the past year has been needed coalescence in the school security world in a number of areas. The release of common sense and mutually reinforcing standards, guidelines, training and widely accepted foundational position statements is proving game changing. These include:
- The release of ASIS International’s ANSI accepted School Security Standard is providing, for the first time, code level type guidance for practitioners.
- The new version 7 of the PASS. School Safety and Security Guidelines is the school security implementation handbook.
- The Foundations of School Security Leadership course, developed by the National Council of School Safety Directors, is the professional development tool helping to create common language and understanding.
- ZeroNow’s release of a series of widely endorsed common sense foundational security position papers is refocusing emphasis on school security basics for all K-12 campuses and students.
Additionally, there is a growing understanding that to be most effective, strategic school security planning must be integrated with the school’s facilities master planning and capital improvement processes.
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I expect that these trends will continue and hopefully accelerate in the coming year.
Challenges with One-Size-Fits-All Government Mandates
On the less positive side I expect that state and federal policy makers, with the best of intensions will continue to mandate specific technology, equipment and procedures for required common deployment in schools. These mandates will be lacking understanding of the facilities’ condition, threat profile, location and at least a dozen other circumstances unique to each individual school.
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School security must be tailored to the unique conditions and needs at each individual campus. Failure to do this is a roadmap to ineffective use of limited resources and runs the risk of becoming security theater. One size will definitely not fit all.
The Role of People vs. ‘Security Technology Solutions’
I expect that vendors and manufactures will continue to market themselves as “solutions providers.” Unfortunately, this has and will continue to foster the perception for too many that the purchase of one of these systems IS the solution. In reality, the solution is people using any security system correctly and with fidelity to address and mitigate identified security vulnerabilities.
I believe there will also be a continued focus on technology — and emerging artificial intelligence (AI) based technologies in particular — as the panacea for all school security related ills. I am not opposed to the deployment of such systems. I am simply an advocate for the understanding that people and not “stuff” is what keeps our schools safe.
Moreover, it is the informed application by a school staff of any such technology to address specifically identified vulnerabilities at an individual school that is the first step required to make the technology effective.
Evaluating AI Weapons Detection
With news reports as the indicator, I expect that visual AI weapons detection systems will continue to be held to the impossible standard of zero failures… a standard that no security technology has yet to achieve. A review of media reports on visual weapons detection failures would seem to indicate that procedure and the human component rather than the technology itself was the point of failure.
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While I am not yet totally sold on this technology, I am an advocate for the reasonable and realistic evaluation of any security technology’s efficacy, which is something that we have not done with visual weapons detection. All technology is a tool and not the answer by itself.
My Future Aspirations for Safe Schools
My aspirations for the new year are really quite simple: I hope we use our collective emotional inertia, knowledge, expertise, good intentions, and resources to the best effect and create bastions where everyone inside is both physically and emotionally safe… a place where students can learn and educators can teach.
Guy Bliesner is a School Safety & Security Analyst Idaho BOE; President of the National Council on School Facilities; a Founding Board Member for the National Council of School Security Directors; and a Sub-committee chair for ASIS school safety standards.
Note: The views expressed by guest bloggers and contributors are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, Campus Safety.
