Key Boxes Keep Our School Secure
David is a principal at a high school in Brisbane. The school had two recent security issues and it was David’s responsibility to find a resolution. He found that using KeepControl Smart Key Boxes with shackles was the answer.
Our last two Parents and Citizens’ meetings held last year were more animated than usual. In the second last meeting, our head of maintenance complained the key for main gate padlock had gone missing. He arrived at the school on Saturday to prepare the oval for our school’s representative rugby league match on Sunday.
Rugby League Match Ruined
When he went to get the key to unlock the padlock on the chain around the main gate to drive his truck in, it wasn’t in its designated place. It took over three hours to track it down.
As a result, all of the preparations for the match couldn’t be finished on time and the teams couldn’t take the field. The coach and principal of the visiting school were both very upset. Our head of maintenance was not happy that he was in the firing line over something that wasn’t his fault.
Parents up in Arms
The last meeting of the year was even more lively. Again, the tension was caused because of a missing key. The school hires several casual drivers to drive our three school buses.
The protocol is that when a driver finishes his bus run at the end of the day, he parks his bus in the school parking area and drops his key off on the vice-principal’s desk.
One Monday morning, the driver for the day of the biggest bus arrived at school to pick up the key for the bus – but it wasn’t on the desk. He spent 10 minutes searching the office – no key. He then called the vice principal, Michael. Michael tried contacting the Friday driver, but he didn’t answer his phone.
By this time, the bus was already 20 minutes behind schedule and Michael knew that there wasn’t going to be enough time to pick up all 26 children on the bus route. He started making phone calls to parents to make alternative arrangements to bring their kids to school.
But some of them were already at work or didn’t answer their phones. It was a mess.
A lot of the parents involved came to this meeting and voiced their extreme disappointment and anger about what happened. We tried to explain and apologise, but they weren’t really prepared to listen. To be honest, I can’t really blame them – it was a totally unacceptable situation.
Operation ‘No More Lost Keys’
We were so serious about solving these issues, we called our search for a solution Operation No More Lost Keys. After doing some research, I decided that a lockable key box was the answer, which minimised the possibility of keys getting misplaced again.
The box needed to be strong and durable, water proof and anti-corrosion, and we were looking for an electronic option where you could set up one-time access or a periodic passcode.
On top of these criteria, we were also looking for a portable option with a shackle. We wanted to put a key box with shackle on the chain around the main gate so that anyone trying to enter the school could access the key at the point of entry.
We also wanted to put a key box with shackle on the driver’s side door handle of each bus – this meant the driver didn’t need to go to the vice principal’s office anymore to pick up their bus key.
KeepControl Smart Keybox with Shackle
Out of all the options we researched, the KeepControl Smart Key Box with shackle ticked all the boxes. In addition to the key box meeting all our requirements, we were very happy with the quality of the shackle.
The last thing we wanted was for intruders to be able to cut through or disable the shackle in some way – but this wasn’t going to happen, given that the shackle was made of SUS 204 Steel.
Other Uses for the Smart Key Box with Shackle
Once we saw how well the smart key boxes were working for us, we did some investigation on whether or not we could use them in other areas of the school.
After consulting with all the departments, we bought more smart key boxes for the door to our sports equipment shed, the lock on our chemicals’ cabinet in our science lab, the metal security doors at the entrances to our multi-level classroom buildings and the entrance to the school assembly hall.
We put the KeepControl Smart Key Boxes with shackles in place at the beginning of the year. And since we started using them, we’ve never had an issue with a key again.
Why Choose a KeepControl Smart Key Box?
KeepControl has the best security solutions. We offer Australia wide delivery to your door. Contact us today on 1800 654 919 or at info@keepcontrol.au.