New federal data released on Thursday offers insight into the many, growing ways that schools have amped up security over the past five years, as the country has recorded three of the deadliest school shootings on record, and as other, more routine gun incidents on school grounds have also become more frequent.
About two-thirds of public schools in the United States now control access to school grounds — not just the building — during the school day, up from about half in the 2017-2018 school year. An estimated 43 percent of public schools have a “panic button” or silent alarm that connect directly with the police in case of emergency, up from 29 percent five years ago. And a stronger majority, 78 percent, equip classrooms with locks, up from 65 percent, according to survey data released by the National Center for Education Statistics, a research arm of the U.S. Education Department.
Full story: How Schools Have Boosted Security as Shootings Become More Common – The New York Times