ScholarChip

Modern School Safety Feature Options for Your Next RFP

School administrators have many options (and priorities) to weigh when it comes to finding the best technology as school safety feature solutions.

From student attendance to campus security, keeping schools safe requires more thoughtful action than installing metal detectors or having guards stationed at school entrances.

Here are a few school safety feature options that principals and administrators should consider, along with technology solutions to help them keep their campus secure.

Challenges in School Safety

Administrators and teachers have to consider several aspects of school culture when it comes to student safety. One issue that schools want to avoid is a rigid, heavily guarded environment where students feel intimidated and restricted. There are certain challenges that schools have to overcome first, however.

Student Accountability + Attendance

Missing school doesn’t just put students behind in class; it can become an increasingly serious issue for students if they’re frequently absent.

“Chronic absenteeism is a critical national problem that puts more than 6.5 million schoolchildren at risk for falling behind academically, dropping out of school and serious long-term health, employment and financial consequences,” according to education research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

But when school administrators have strategies in place to improve student attendance and keep students in the classroom, everyone wins.

“Students have opportunities to engage with positive role models at school,” the experts with the RWJF explain, “and schools can help foster a stable environment for children from families that are struggling with housing challenges, job loss and trauma.”

Visitor Accessibility

Keeping school campuses secure is a challenge, but keeping facilities on lockdown also makes for a hardened (and fairly dismal) education environment.

“Stringent security measures that lock down buildings, deny access to visitors and restrict movement on a campus might make some campuses safer, but it wouldn’t be such a great environment for learning,” according to American School and University Magazine.

Schools can strike a balance, however, between a locked-down building and a campus that’s too accessible, especially with the right school safety technology in place to help with monitoring.

Student Behavior and Intervention

Negative student behavior and bullying should be addressed in schools, but this can often distract from the classroom environment when a teacher has to stop instruction and intervene.

“A safe and nurturing environment in which students are treated with dignity is the right of every student,” explains the National Education Association.

But teachers and administrators need more tools and positive approaches to behavioral intervention so the classroom environment encourages learning and engagement. Luckily, this demand has paved the way for more solutions.

School Safety Feature Options and Solutions

When it comes to managing these challenges, administrators have a few safety solutions available, thanks to advances in technology. But those options might start to feel overwhelming, especially if you’re in the process of creating an RFP to find the right technology vendor. Principals and school administrators can prioritize the following school safety features to make the process easier:

Automation Solutions for Identification

Issuing ID cards for students, staff, and visitors doesn’t have to be an annoying ordeal. Technology solutions like ScholarChip make card issuance easy, and the high-volume ID Manager station can handle any batch printing or record searches needed.

Visitor Management Technology

Using an integrated platform like ScholarChip gives administrators an entire suite of tools to help create a secure, more positive school culture. ScholarChip makes it easy to scan visitor IDs and integrates with existing SIS software so the process is efficient.

Evidence-Based Behavioral Intervention

Don’t let disruptive behavior derail your teachers. ScholarChip’s Alternative Behavior Educator program has helped administrators everywhere with student discipline, for more positive student behavioral intervention.

Attendance Tracking Solutions

Encourage student attendance and make reporting on at-risk-student behavior easier (and accurate) with ScholarChip’s real-time reporting capability.

“Attendance for our high school students has gone up more than four percentage points over the past three years,” reports an administrator in the Philadelphia school district. “ScholarChip’s system is one of the reasons for this increase. The technology is unbelievable.”

Prioritizing School Safety Without Causing Problems

Recently, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that most schools (about 95%) in the US have regular active shooter safety drills, in an effort to prepare students and teachers for emergencies.

“But concerns are growing that these drills have not been proven effective in preventing violence and that they may even traumatize some students,” writes Anya Kamenetz for NPR.

When administrators struggle with student behavior or campus security challenges, having technology solutions that support your staff and automate your processes can be a game-changer. Instead of creating an educational environment that’s hardened or on lockdown, ScholarChip gives admins and teachers resources to help prevent future incidents and encourage a more positive school culture.

Want to learn more? Check out how ScholarChip has helped principals and teachers across the country improve attendance and monitor student behavior for a healthier, safer school environment.

ScholarChip offers a solution called Alternative Behavior Educator (ABE). This innovative program enables school administrators and counselors to identify, monitor, and improve student behavior throughout a student’s career, while giving them powerful data-driven reports that quickly flag at-risk students, help monitor and chronicle progress, and help them identify school safety risks before incidents.

To learn how ScholarChip can help make Texas schools safer or get free recommendations, feel free to contact us for a free 1-on-1 consultation today!