Mt. Pisgah Christian School

Jun 1, 2000 12:00 PM, ACCESS CONTROL & SECURITY SYSTEMS INTEGRATION STAFF

Like other private schools, Mt. Pisgah Christian School, Alpharetta, Ga., is not mandated by a board of education to follow prescribed safety and security precautions. Nonetheless the school has a strong commitment to the safety and security of its community. The school recently invested in a sophisticated access control system for its main campus.

Mt. Pisgah found a security solution from AFA Protective Systems, Marietta, Ga. Working closely with the school's Safety Crisis Management Team, AFA designed and installed Northern Computers' Win-Pak 2.0, 32-bit NT-compatible access control system for the school's existing and under-construction facilities The system is designed to grow with the Mt. Pisgah community.

Unique needs Mt. Pisgah Christian School serves 910 students in grades pre-K through eighth grade and will be adding a ninth grade in the fall of 2000. Anticipating that expansion, Mt. Pisgah sought earlier this year a system that would render the school safe for students, parents and visitors, while not excessively inhibiting freedom of movement, according to headmaster Dr. Neely Young.

As a Christian community, Mt. Pisgah serves not only its school population, but also a Methodist congregation of about 4,000 people, according to Mandy Williams, events manager for Mt. Pisgah. "There are about 2,500 people here on any given Sunday," explains Williams. "We knew it was important to be proactive in the protection of our children. In planning our security solution, AFA Protective Systems worked closely with all areas of the school, listening to and accounting for the different needs of each area. Together, we designed a security plan that suits everyone's needs."

As events manager, Williams is involved in the various goings-on at Mt. Pisgah. Her familiarity with Mt. Pisgah's needs was invaluable to the design process, according to Sean Henry, AFA commercial sales manager. The coordination of needs is one of the most critical aspects of the design process, adds Henry.

"Mt. Pisgah serves its community in many ways: through the church, the school, the after-school program, the Sunday school program and a nursery program for infants," says Henry. "It was a real challenge to create a synchronized system. Many people - information technology, human resources, events and facilities management - need access to the software to determine access privileges and system status, and to generate reports of user activity. Convenience for users - who can include parents, staff and faculty - was key to Mt. Pisgah.

Williams and the Safety Crisis Management Team at Mt. Pisgah wanted to create a written record of comings and goings at the school. "Being able to track who goes where and generate a history of that information will be invaluable to the school should it run into a security problem," comments Henry. "We wanted to create a secured environment that can be felt, but that did not conflict with the feelings of warmth and community that are strengths of the school."

The nuts and bolts Although most public school systems have chosen closed-circuit television surveillance to protect their schools, Mt. Pisgah, saw opportunities to increase security through the capability of access control to generate activity reports, and to restrict access to areas where children are. "Given Mt. Pisgah's needs, CCTV may not necessarily prevent a problem, whereas access control will," says Henry.

AFA approached the physical installation of the system by accommodating the older architecture of the main building; conduit installed between it and the outbuildings has resulted in an integrated system among buildings. The system is non-proprietary with master panels manufactured by Northern, and proximity card and reader technology from HID. The Northern system was selected for its 32-bit architecture, which enables the user database to be located on the Windows NT server, without slowing down individual workstations. At Mt. Pisgah, the system allows multiple administrators to tap into it from any point on the local area network.

"All perimeter building areas are secured, as well as certain key, internal areas in which the children are cared for," says Henry. "We have effectively created an external cocoon, with internal layers and levels of protection reinforcing it."

Fiber-optic cable has been run from Mt. Pisgah's existing buildings to the facilities under construction, so that as the school expands, security for all buildings can be monitored from various central locations. An existing fire system was also taken over by AFA, using a Radionics system. "An eventual goal for Mt. Pisgah could be to have all the life safety functions tied into one, enabling separate status reporting from the individual outbuildings. The system could also report to Win Pak 2.0 in a supervisory capacity," Henry points out. On-site personnel handle administration of the system, but AFA continues to be actively involved in maintenance, anticipating its ongoing expansion.

Looking ahead The assurances provided by physical security systems are supplemented by the vigilance of community members: crisis plans designed by the administration and the involvement of students in safety drills and programs such as drug education are vital to the community. A walk around the campus shows that access to the school is only possible through the main office, where visitors must sign in and obtain an identification tag to be worn during their visit. Additionally, play areas for children, though aesthetically pleasing, are fenced and supervised by staff members.

"We are responsible for providing a nurturing and safe education for our children," explains Williams. "We feel that our forward planning in procuring this particular security system, which will grow with us, positions us well to achieve our vision."

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