Public policies must support school safety

As architects, we are continuously challenged to design great schools that provide healthy, productive learning environments and allow students to flourish.

In the wake of recent highprofile school shootings, however, we are more frequently faced with a set of questions around how we can design schools that place a strong emphasis on security. I believe that we’re qualified to provide holistic design strategies which can provide for safer schools and mitigate a range of issues around violence that threaten our schools today — while still fulfilling our central mission creating inspiring environments that will enhance the learning experience for our future generations.

The impact of these horrific events on school climate is staggering. Even though the vast majority of students don’t have direct experience with school shootings, the trauma has a ripple effect: it’s now considered a best practice in American public schools to have written protocols or simulation drills for how to proceed in an active shooter situation. We must now accept the responsibility as architects to design our new schools to mitigate the effects of these violent acts and provide an environment where students and teachers can thrive and feel secure. We also have a significant stock of existing facilities that need to be evaluated and retrofitted. This work will require significant support and resources that go beyond the architecture, engineering and construction communities.

The American Institute of Architects, of which I am a member, supports architects in their mission of designing safer schools. We are advocating for a federal onestop-shop clearinghouse of architectural and design resources that will be accessible by education officials, architects and other design professionals, and will help inform them on how to design safer schools. We are also promoting legislation that will allow existing grants to fund our security design efforts. I had the opportunity to testify before senior White House cabinet officials and the Federal Commission on School Safety to push for school design best practices that support open and positive learning environments and also enhance safety and security.

We know that there is no one-size-fits-all design solution to school safety, which is why we must advocate for the inclusion of architects in the national discussion on developing safer schools. We believe that the architecture profession has proven it is qualified to take on the leadership challenges of designing healthy, productive learning environments that build community.

I urge policymakers and all architects to work with the communities they serve to enact public policies at every level of government that will support positive places of learning and safeguard our children.