May 2008 — News
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Security: Schools Frustrated by Budget, Staff Constraints
While schools have spent the last year beefing up their physical security infrastructure, the quality of their data security has apparently dropped. According to the 2008 School Safety Index, conducted by Quality Education Data and released this week by CDW Government (CDW-G), district IT professionals rated their own "cyber security" 25 percent lower this year than they did in last year's survey results, while their physical safety score rose 39 percent over 2007.
The 2008 results reverse last year's findings, in which the push for improved data security overwhelmed physical security efforts. This year, however, the proliferation of IP-based video surveillance and mass notification systems helped propel physical security drastically upward.
The study is unique as a benchmark for school safety covering data security, physical security, and emergency preparedness and provides a means for schools to compare themselves with a national average. This year's study polled more than 400 district IT and security directors and allowed them to rate their security on a scale of one to 100 using positive and negative indicators, each of which was assigned a certain value from which the final index totals were generated. The 2008 study polled 403 administrators, IT personnel, and security staff from schools around the country in urban, suburban, and rural districts. The study, conducted in April 2008, has a margin of error of ±5 percent at a confidence level of 95 percent.
The report also indicated that schools and districts efforts toward expanding security are being frustrated by budgetary constraints.
"School districts both large and small are embracing advanced technology tools and techniques to make school a safer place for our children," said Bob Kirby, senior director for K-12 at CDW-G, in a statement released to coincide with the survey results. "Cyber- and physical-security tools--from network access control to security cameras--are allowing administrators to see into and lock down their networks and school buildings, but schools continue to be frustrated by budget and staff constraints, particularly in their IT security programs."
Physical Security
In terms of physical security, 70 percent of districts are now reporting the use of video surveillance technologies, up seven points from last year. Of these, 33 percent reported that local police have the ability to monitor their schools' cameras in real time. Only 29 percent have reported that security cameras have made a positive impact on security.
The School Safety Index this year also measured the use of emergency/mass notification systems, finding that 45 percent of districts are using them. Of these:
