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Security conversations with Melissa Tebbenkamp, Director of Instructional Technology and Travis Hux, Assistant Superintendent of Support Services at Raytown Quality Schools "After the Parkland school shooting, we evaluated safety in the district, just as we do after any attack on U.S. schools. The difference in the Parkland event was that parents and students expressed, nationwide, that they don't feel safe. As that perspective became clear to us, we pivoted a bit to shift focus from not only being safe but helping students and parents feel safe." Q: What are some of the most common security fears that parents in your district complain about? How have you addressed them? A: Travis: The greatest fear is the possibility of a school intruder – I'm also a parent and even I think about it occasionally. It's not likely but is it a possibility, and therefore we have to plan for it. After the Parkland school shooting, we evaluated safety in the district, just as we do after any attack on U.S. schools. The difference in the Parkland event was that parents and students expressed, nationwide, that they don't feel safe. As that perspective became clear to us, we pivoted a bit to shift focus from not only being safe but helping students and parents feel safe. We publish a lot of information on social media, and we created a safety page on our website. We also hold safety forums for parents. Melissa: We have several security measures in place that we've been implementing over the last five or six years. I think we've tackled many of our challenges. Now our goals are more aspirational. We'd like to add SAFR™ Facial Recognition to Genetec Security Center, for instance, to identify people who don't belong, just like they do in airports. I know a lot of districts are looking at facial recognition for internal school use, but for us, it would be for security and threat assessment. Q: Do you build community connections? In other words, do you engage your public or private organizations to better secure your community? If so, how? A: Melissa: Travis leads our Security Task Force, which is an advisory committee that includes local first responders and other community members who give input into our security planning. We've had some great conversations – the push to invest in facial recognition actually came from that team. The Safety Task Force is also responsible for the district-wide change to security cameras about seven years ago, and why we added as many as we did. The initial purchase was for around 500 cameras, and we're at over 800 now. Every year I get a request for more and more cameras. We have signs that say, "Smile, you're on camera." It helps to give everyone a sense of security. Q: What is the most common/daily security issue? A: Melissa: Our biggest threat is our humans: our employees and our students. We're always on soft lockdown, but that's only as good as those who make sure that the doors are locked and shut. If someone goes and props a door open at the back of the building, or if a teacher doesn't close her classroom door, then that classroom is not locked down. From a cybersecurity perspective, this could be anything from clicking on a phishing scam inadvertently, to visiting a webpage that's malicious, to a student intentionally downloading a VPN (virtual private network), and then trying to bypass our security. These are things we're always monitoring. To combat this, we really push security and cybersecurity education. To ensure our staff is prepared, we educate our teachers on the need to make sure the doors are locked and shut. We also practice intruder training to help prepare them for an event, just in case. © 2019 Genetec Inc. All rights reserved. Genetec, and its respective logo are trademarks of Genetec Inc., and may be registered or pending registration in several jurisdictions. Other trademarks used in this document may be trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective products. Genetec Inc. genetec.com/locations info@genetec.com @genetec

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