Article posted on October 28, 2025

Planning EdTech, AV, and security upgrades on campus must start much earlier than you think. While the physical installation of systems like AV, video surveillance security cameras and access control is best done during the winter breaks or summer months to avoid interfering with operations, the real work (and the winning) happens months before.

Many districts wait until the last minute, but if you partner with a trusted integrator early, you can secure better pricing, ensure smoother installs, and leverage the holiday downtime for success.

Planning Starts Months Before the Break

To deploy an AV or security project successfully during a short academic break, you must allow your integrator ample time to complete critical pre-installation tasks. Here’s why it matters:

• Adjusting Designs and Budgets: Integrators need time to assess the site and adjust system designs for video surveillance and access control to fit your exact budgetary needs without compromising on your safety.
• Coordinating Other Trades: Complex projects require coordinating outside resources like electricians, architects, and construction crews. This takes time to scope, bid, and schedule.
• Documentation and Procurement: Proper planning allows time for creating accurate documentation, issuing purchase orders, and ordering equipment with long lead times.
• Pre-Building and Testing: Your integrator should allocate time to pre-build and test components, like equipment racks and kits for cameras and control panels, off-site. This minimizes the time spent on campus and virtually eliminates unexpected surprises during the break installation.

Why Breaks Matter for AV and Security Projects

When students and faculty aren’t using the buildings, installations can move faster and more smoothly. You also avoid cutting into semesters.

Planning ahead for breaks gives decision makers, such as school boards and administrators,  needed time to review your proposal for AV or security upgrades on campus and seek guidance for clarity purposes, which give the project a better chance of getting vetted and funded.

Map Project Needs To Campus Zones

To get started, list all the high-risk and high-value zones:

• High-risk zones include places like entry gates, labs, cafeteria areas, or parking lots.
• High-value zones include auditoriums, media centers, and control rooms.

You then need to decide which zones need access control and which need camera coverage first. You might want to opt for layered coverage in some places, such as card access at the door with cameras watching the corridor. As your plan unfolds, these layers will start to come together to form a cohesive and seamlessly integrated security system.

Budgeting and Phasing Across Terms

You might have big plans in mind to make your campus safer, but you don’t have to request full funding all at once. Sometimes it’s smarter to break your plan into manageable chunks that can fit between academic cycles.

For example, in the shorter winter break, you can fund a few camera installations and control panel setups. Then, in the longer summer break, you can wire all the doors and finish the camera commissioning.

With this plan of action, your board can see progress, and you can preserve flexibility. It also allows you to manage your cash flow more tightly.

Partner with a Trusted Integrator

Look for vendors, like Fearing’s, that can deliver video surveillance security cameras and access control under a unified platform. That will minimize future headaches and help you avoid having to work through multiple vendors.

You also want help from a technology supplier who can deliver things like remote management tools, technology integration, analytics support, and maintenance agreements.

Fearing’s is also a member of the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS), which offers the most comprehensive information available on best practices for securing school facilities, vetted extensively by experts across the education, public safety and industry sectors.

Early Stakeholder Engagement

Bring in facilities, IT, security, and academic leadership early in the process. Show them how your plan will reduce risk and support safety protocols on campus through the use of mockups and small pilot programs during breaks.

When leadership can see what works in a controlled zone, they will be more likely to approve the investment.

Contact Fearing’s to schedule a planning session for video surveillance security cameras or access control. Start now so your next project wins funding and gets installed quickly and efficiently during your campus breaks.