What School Security Leaders Should Prioritize During Slower Periods
Summer break and other quieter periods provide opportunities to assess vulnerabilities, improve preparedness, and focus on work that can be difficult to prioritize during the school year.
As the school year comes to a close, many school safety leaders turn their attention to planning, assessment, and preparation for the year ahead.
While summer may bring a welcome break from the pace of the academic year, experienced practitioners know that school safety is a year-round responsibility. In many ways, quieter periods provide an opportunity to focus on some of the most important work of all—the work that helps prevent problems before they occur.
At the same time, quieter periods provide an important opportunity to recharge. School safety leadership can be demanding, even in districts that haven't experienced a major incident. Expectations continue to grow, threats continue to evolve, and many leaders are asked to do more with the same resources—or fewer. The work is often complex, ever-changing, high-pressure, and emotionally taxing.
For that reason, many practitioners view summer as an opportunity to focus not only on preparedness, but also on personal well-being. The challenge is finding the right balance between preparing for the year ahead and taking the time to recharge for it.
How School Safety Leaders Use Slower Periods
One topic recently discussed among NCSSD members was how they use slower periods. A common theme was the importance of spending time in schools and observing day-to-day operations. Practitioners described using quieter periods to walk campuses, observe arrivals and dismissals, watch hallway and lunchroom activity, check doors, and talk with staff and students. Some intentionally spend time working from different schools throughout their district to better understand operations and identify practices that could be replicated elsewhere.
Understanding what "normal" looks like is an important part of school safety. Observing how people move through a campus, where bottlenecks occur, how procedures are followed, and how different buildings address common challenges can reveal opportunities for improvement that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Many participants also described downtime as "prevention time." Rather than waiting for issues to emerge, they use quieter periods to focus on activities such as:
- Review and update emergency operations plans (EOPs)
- Conduct risk assessments
- Evaluate security systems and infrastructure
- Inspect doors and access control systems
- Identify maintenance and safety concerns
- Prepare staff trainings and presentations
- Review lessons learned from incidents and after-action reports
- Participate in professional development and continuing education opportunities
The common thread across these activities is proactive planning. Rather than reacting to problems, school safety leaders use quieter periods to identify vulnerabilities, strengthen programs, improve preparedness, and build relationships.
As one NCSSD member observed, "School safety roles can have slow moments, but I've found there is always something that can improve preparedness, awareness, or relationships on campus. The proactive work done during quiet periods is often what prevents larger issues later."
That perspective reflects a broader reality of the profession. In school safety, some of the most important work happens long before an incident occurs.
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The insights featured in this article came directly from NCSSD members sharing real-world experiences and lessons learned with their peers.
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