Why School Security Is a Facilities Responsibility
By Brandon T. Payne, Ed.D.,
Executive Director, National Council on School Facilities
Anyone who has worked in a state facilities office knows that a school’s security story starts long before the ribbon cutting. It starts when the construction standards get written, when building plans come in for review, and when a district sits down to decide what to repair, renovate, or replace. That’s the work the members of the National Council on School Facilities (NCSF) do every day. We’re the state officials responsible for K–12 public school buildings, and NCSF is how we support one another and advocate for schools that are safe, healthy, and educationally appropriate. Safety is right there in our mission, and it’s why we joined the editorial board of School Safety Quarterly.
Across our states, we’ve seen the same thing again and again: security works best when it’s part of the building, not bolted onto it. A controlled front entrance, good sightlines, a clear perimeter, doors and hardware that actually work: when those are designed in from the beginning, students are safer and teachers never feel like they’re working around them. When they’re added later, they tend to fight with how the school really runs. Condition matters just as much as design. A door that won’t latch or a camera system past its useful life is a security problem and a maintenance problem at the same time.
Our vision is a country where every public school building supports learning, teaching, and efficient operations, and a building that isn’t secure can’t do any of that. State facilities directors bring a view that’s hard to find anywhere else, because we see how standards, planning, and building condition play out in district after district. That perspective belongs in the school safety conversation right alongside safety directors and researchers. The Journal gives all of us a place to have that conversation together and to make a fairly simple case: school security should be planned, designed, and maintained like every other building system.
