By Lt. Joseph Pangaro CPM, MOI
As summer break begins, school leaders often shift their focus to maintenance, curriculum planning, and staff hiring. But the quieter hallways and empty classrooms also create a critical window of opportunity to strengthen school safety and security. Without the hustle of day-to-day operations, schools can take deliberate steps to improve their preparedness for the coming academic year.
Police Agencies can also use this time to conduct drills for their officers in your buildings to become familiar with the schools and how to navigate around. School officials should encourage the local police to visit in the summer and run a drill or two.
In addition to this idea schools should also use this time to make their facilities safer for the fall. Here are four essential security initiatives every school should consider over the summer months:
- Conduct a Comprehensive Threat and Vulnerability Assessment
Security starts with understanding where your vulnerabilities lie. Summer break offers the perfect opportunity to conduct a detailed Threat, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessment (TVRA). This process involves a top-to-bottom evaluation of a school’s physical layout, existing safety policies, access points, visitor management protocols, emergency communication tools, and even the behavior of staff during security events.
Working with a trained security professional or law enforcement expert ensures that assessments are objective, thorough, and actionable. The goal isn’t just to identify weak points, but also to prioritize which areas require immediate attention and which can be addressed over time.
Key areas to assess include:
- Entry and exit point control
- Video surveillance camera placement and effectiveness
- Emergency communication systems (PA, radios, apps)
- Staff roles and responsibilities during incidents
- Gaps in fencing, lighting, and signage
Once the assessment is completed, it should be followed by a clear action plan for remediation and improvement—ideally implemented before the first day of school.
- Train Staff in Behavioral Threat Assessment and De-Escalation
Summer is also the time to prepare your frontline defenders—teachers, administrators, custodians, and support staff. One of the most underutilized yet effective strategies in violence prevention is behavioral threat assessment. This training teaches staff how to recognize early warning signs of potential violence, including what’s known as “leakage”—when individuals communicate their intent to harm through social media posts, essays, artwork, or verbal comments.
Equally important is de-escalation training. Not every incident will escalate to a crisis if staff are equipped to respond calmly and effectively. Knowing how to engage students or adults in a tense moment use non-confrontational language, and recognize emotional triggers can defuse situations before they become dangerous.
Summer onboarding for new hires should include these trainings, but returning staff also benefit from annual refreshers. Ideally, schools should also form or update their internal threat assessment teams over the summer and define clear reporting protocols so everyone knows what to do when they spot concerning behavior.
- Upgrade and Integrate Security Technology
Technology plays a key role in modern school security, but having the right tools is only part of the equation. Integration and usability are equally important.
Summer is the perfect time to review your current security technology suite:
- Are your cameras positioned effectively, and do they offer clear, up-to-date resolution?
- Are door access controls functioning as intended and properly logged?
- Does your visitor management system accurately track who’s on campus and why?
- Have your panic alarms, intercoms, and notification systems been tested recently?
Upgrading or installing AI-enhanced tools, such as gun detection software, license plate readers, or multi-sensor units like the HALO Smart Sensor, can elevate your security posture. These systems can detect gunshots, vaping, aggression, and air quality issues—all without needing a camera in sensitive areas like bathrooms.
The ultimate goal is interoperability—ensuring all systems work together so that a triggered alert from one device can automatically notify the right people, lock down buildings, or activate live video feeds.
- Update Emergency Plans and Schedule Drills
Too often, schools dust off their emergency plans only after something goes wrong. Instead, summer should be a time to review, update, and practice those plans proactively.
Start by reviewing what worked and what didn’t during the past year. Were there any false alarms, slow responses, or confusion during drills? Were communications lines clear during a weather-related closure or medical emergency?
Plans should include:
- Lockdown/Lockout procedures
- Fire evacuation routes
- Reunification protocols
- Shelter-in-place guidelines
- Medical emergency response
- Bomb threat protocols
Once plans are updated, summer is also an excellent time to coordinate with local police, fire, and EMS. Hosting a tabletop exercise or even a full-scale drill with your public safety partners builds rapport and ensures everyone is operating from the same playbook.
Don’t forget to create a drill schedule for the new school year and communicate it clearly with staff and families. Practice creates muscle memory—and in a real emergency, seconds matter.
Final Thoughts
Every school has a duty to provide a safe learning environment. That mission doesn’t pause when students leave for summer break. On the contrary, summer presents the best opportunity to assess vulnerabilities, upgrade systems, train personnel, and ensure your plans are battle-tested and ready.
Proactive planning now can prevent reactive scrambling later. School safety isn’t a one-time event—it’s an ongoing process that requires foresight, commitment, and teamwork. Take the time this summer to ensure your school is safer and more prepared than ever before.