If we don't have the funds for an expense like that, we can either wait until next year to make the changes or go to facilities and see if they'll cover it. Conflicts of interests Not all security-related obstacles are as easily overcome. For facility professionals charged with safeguarding a host of occupant priorities, addressing security concerns can raise challenges. One big challenge facing many schools is balancing safety and a comfortable environment. More and more of today's schools are moving toward a proactive security approach that's geared at least as much toward preventing crime as toward catching offenders.
People are wary of that, so it can be a tricky balancing act.
A related challenge is reconciling security needs with environmental features that are conducive to learning. Providing lots of interior daylighting, for example, can compromise the security of a building by replacing solid walls with windows. None of these questions are easily answered. But with the help of a security master plan that acknowledges these potentially conflicting challenges from the first day of the design process, facility professionals, security personnel, engineers and architects are all better prepared to mull over creative ways to approach them. From the ground up The belief that school security issues should be addressed from the earliest design stages lies at the heart of the master-planning concept.