When families send their children to school, they trust they’ll stay safe and healthy until the bell rings at the end of the day. For school administrators, installing a reliable access control system is key to consistently meeting those expectations.
Access control for schools can help you improve your building safety, manage entry points, and protect your students and staff—but only if it’s done right. An ineffective access control system can give a false feeling of security while leaving your school community exposed to potential threats.
So what does an effective school access control system look like? Let’s break down the five most important access control features and how they can enhance your school operations.
The Importance of Access Control for K-12 Schools
School crime has been on the decline in recent years, but that doesn’t mean you should let your guard down. One of the reasons schools have seen less crime is that they’ve implemented more security measures, and letting up on those efforts now would be a sharp turn in the wrong direction.
Although numbers are improving, more than a third of public schools in the United States reported at least one incident of vandalism in 2022, and around a fifth experienced theft. Access control systems help prevent these kinds of incidents. They protect staff, students, and property in K-12 schools by making it more difficult for unauthorized individuals to enter the property.
Lower crime rates translate to reduced costs. You can save a lot of money by avoiding property repairs and replacements, rekeying of locks, and security breach responses. An access control system also reinforces your school’s image as a safe space, fostering trust with students, families, and the larger community.
5 Access Control Features Every School Needs
Research shows 97% of schools control access to their buildings, but, for some schools, that simply means locking the doors. A more comprehensive access control system with these five essential features closes critical gaps and strengthens security for your school.
1. Authentication and Authorization
The core purpose of a school access control system is to restrict who can enter your buildings. To make that happen, you’ll issue credentials to different types of users, including administrators, teachers, and staff.
Credentials come in many different forms, including:
- Key cards
- Key fobs
- Smartphones
- Biometrics, such as facial scans
- Mobile apps
When someone needs to unlock the door, all they have to do is scan their credentials, and the system verifies that they have the proper authorization. This means you can limit access to entire buildings and specific rooms based on your safety and security policies.
2. Remote Management
School administrators and security personnel are regularly on the move—attending meetings, mediating student conflicts, and helping teachers. As a result, they may not always be able to access an on-premises access control system as quickly as they need to.
That’s where remote management comes in. An access control system with this capability allows you to make changes no matter where you are. In other words, you can immediately grant emergency access or revoke an individual’s authorization even if you’re in a classroom or temporarily off campus. You can also initiate a lockdown, securing all the doors and preventing anyone from entering if students or staff notice suspicious activity, the school receives a threat, or an emergency incident breaks out nearby.
3. Scheduling
The next essential feature for a school access control system is scheduling, which allows you to decide when you want to prevent or allow access. Sophisticated systems like the ones installed by 2 Krew Security and Surveillance give you full control over who can enter different areas of your campus at different times.
For example, you can program certain doors to unlock automatically at the beginning of the school day so students and employees can enter freely, while keeping side and back doors locked. You can also schedule the doors to lock again when the school day starts and stay secure until classes are over for the day.
Now let’s consider how this plays out after hours. Many schools have cleaning and maintenance staff who come on-site in the evening, during vacations, or over the weekend. With an access control system, you can limit building entries during those times only to these individuals and administrators. Access control scheduling gives you the best possible outcome: students, family members, and other visitors can only enter the building at appropriate times, but staff can still get their work done.
4. Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts
Keeping up with who’s on your school campus is no easy task. Even the most experienced and observant administrators, teachers, and staff can find it difficult to stay on top of the comings and goings of students, delivery personnel, family members, volunteers, and other visitors. An access control system with real-time monitoring and alerts ensures you always know who’s on campus.
At 2 Krew, we know every moment matters during a security incident or emergency at a K-12 school. That’s why our systems include alert notifications, which let you know immediately if there’s an unauthorized access attempt or intrusion. With these alerts, security personnel can respond immediately to potential threats and, when necessary, you can initiate a lockdown.
5. Integration with Other Security Systems
Your school’s access control system is one part of a larger security strategy, which likely includes alarms and video surveillance. Tying all those components together creates a more cohesive system, gives you a deeper view into what’s happening on your campus, and empowers you to keep your students safer.
Let’s look at a few of the reasons why integration is such an important feature for your access control system:
- Video identification: With combined video surveillance and access control, school staff can get visual confirmation of visitors’ identities before allowing them to enter the building. This helps prevent unauthorized entries and minimize security risks.
- Incident evidence: You can analyze suspicious behavior and emergencies in more detail when you can corroborate access events with video footage. This detailed evidence is crucial in the event of a criminal or internal investigation.
- Crime deterrence: When paired with access control, video surveillance cameras are an excellent way to deter criminal activity, including vandalism and theft. Cameras and access control devices show that your school is monitoring the property at all times, including when everyone goes home for the day.
- Emergency response: You can respond more quickly and effectively to emergencies when you have a combination of access control alerts, alarms, and video surveillance notifications. You’ll have a better understanding of what’s unfolding and can reach out to the appropriate emergency responders.
If you’re concerned that your access control system might not connect properly with your existing video surveillance and alarms, don’t hesitate to reach out to 2 Krew. We’ll work with you to seamlessly integrate all your security solutions.
Install a Feature-Rich Access Control System for Your School
In today’s schools, access control means a lot more than locking a door with a traditional key. A robust access control system can take your school safety and security to an entirely new level with features like user authorization, real-time monitoring, and remote management.
The team at 2 Krew works closely with schools in the Pittsburgh and Tri-State area, ensuring they get the right solutions for their needs. Contact us for a consultation and to learn more about our customized access control systems for K-12 schools.
