DHS Infrastructure Protection Report Series

• 2 pages
• For Official Use Only
• September 15, 2011

Approximately fifty million students attend nearly 100,000 public elementary and secondary schools throughout the Nation. Elementary and secondary schools are relatively open-access, limited egress congregation points for children, and have been successfully targeted by terrorists in the past.

Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activity

Terrorists have a wide variety of weapons and tactics available to achieve their objectives. Specific threats of most concern to schools include:

• Small arms attack
• Improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
• Vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs)
• Arson or incendiary attack
• Chemical or biological attack

Terrorist activity indicators are observable anomalies or incidents that may precede a terrorist attack. Indicators of an imminent attack requiring immediate action may include the following:

• Persons in crowded areas (e.g., school auditorium, cafeteria, athletic facilities) wearing unusually bulky clothing that might conceal suicide explosives or weapons
• Vehicles approaching the school at an unusually high speed or steering around barriers and traffic controls
• Suspicious or illegally parked vehicles on or near school grounds
• Unattended packages (e.g., backpack, briefcase, box) that may contain explosives. Packages may be left in open areas or may be hidden in trash receptacles, lockers, or similar containers.
• Evidence of unauthorized access to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) areas of a school; indications of unusual substances near air intakes
• Suspicious packages and/or letters received by mail that might contain explosives or chemical/biological/ radiological agents.

Indicators of potential surveillance by terrorists include:

• Persons using or carrying video/camera/observation equipment in or near the school over an extended period
• Persons parking, standing, or loitering in the same area over a multiple-day period with no reasonable explanation
• Persons questioning school employees off-site about practices pertaining to the school and its operations
• Persons discovered with school maps, photos, or diagrams with key components or sensitive areas highlighted
• Suspicious personal e-mail, telephone, fax, or postal mail requests for information about the school or its operations
• A noted pattern of false alarms requiring a response by law enforcement or emergency services
• Threats by telephone, mail, or e-mail and/or increase in reports of threats from known reliable sources

Common Vulnerabilities

The following are key common vulnerabilities of elementary and secondary schools:

• Relatively open access to school grounds and buildings
• Limited or no vehicle access controls
• Large concentrations of students gathering in open areas outside school buildings on a regular and readily observable schedule
• Proximity of schools and neighboring facilities, especially in urban areas
• Limited or no inspection of students’ personal articles, particularly in lower-crime areas
• Limited security on school buses

Protective Measures

Protective measures include equipment, personnel, and procedures designed to protect a facility against threats and to mitigate the effects of an attack. Protective measures for elementary and secondary schools include:

Planning and Preparedness

• Designate an employee as security director to develop, implement, and coordinate all security-related activities
• Conduct security audits on a regular and continuing basis. Develop a comprehensive security plan and emergency response plan for the school
• Conduct regular exercises of emergency plans
• Establish liaison and regular communication with local law enforcement and emergency responders

Personnel

• Conduct background checks on all school employees
• Incorporate security into employee training programs
• Provide security information and training to all students

Access Control

• Define the facility perimeter and areas within the facility that require access control. Maintain building access points to the minimum needed
• Issue photo identification badges to all school employees and students
• Require visitors check in with the front office upon arrival and departure
• Provide visitors with school issued identification badges when on school grounds.
• Positively identify all vehicles and drivers that enter the school parking lots
• Institute a policy restricting other vehicles from accessing the bus-loading zone
• Secure ladders, awnings, and parapets that provide access to building roofs, HVAC systems, and other critical equipment

Barriers

• Install appropriate perimeter barriers and gates. Maintain clear area at perimeter barriers to enable continuous monitoring and to inhibit concealment of people or packages
• Establish a clear zone adjacent to buildings. Keep zone free of vegetation and other obstructions
• Install barriers to protect doors and windows from small arms fire and explosive blast effects

Communication and Notification

• Install system(s) that provide communication with all people at the school, including employees, students, emergency response teams, and visitors
• Develop a plan for communicating with parents during emergency situations
• Develop a notification protocol that outlines who should be contacted in emergencies.
• Develop a procedure for communicating with the public and the media regarding security issues

Monitoring, Surveillance, Inspection

• Evaluate needs and design a monitoring, surveillance, and inspection program
• Provide visual surveillance capability (e.g., designated surveillance points, cleared lines of sight)
• Install intrusion detection and alarm systems
• Deploy personnel assigned to security duty to regularly inspect sensitive or critical areas
• Continuously monitor all people entering and leaving the facility for suspicious behavior
• Continuously monitor all vehicles approaching the facility for signs of threatening behavior

Infrastructure Interdependencies

• Ensure that the school has adequate utility service capacity to meet normal and emergency needs
• Ensure that employees are familiar with how to shut off utility services
• Provide adequate physical security for utility services

Cyber Security

• Develop and implement a security plan for computer and information systems hardware and software
• Maintain a well-trained computer security staff
• Incident Response
• Ensure that an adequate number of emergency response personnel are on duty and/or on call
• Provide training and equipment to emergency response personnel to enable them to deal with terrorist-related incidents
• Check the status of all emergency response equipment and supplies on a regular basis
• Develop a plan for discharging students following incident resolution

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