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Safety and Security

Doors to school building should remain closed and locked during community use:

  • Schools may require that user groups use the main front door for entry and exit; follow instructions provided by school staff.
  • Schools may keep all doors locked after the first fifteen minutes of the start of the reservation time. If a group has persons coming and going during the scheduled reservation hours, the group must post a representative of the group at the front door to the building in order to allow participants to enter for the scheduled event or activity. User groups should plan accordingly.

Crowd Manager Certification: At least one person present at each use should be certified in handling crowd control via the State of Maryland Fire Marshall’s Office online training. Click here for Crowd Manager Certification.


CPR Certification: At least one person present at each use should have a current CPR certification by a recognized group such as the American Heart Association, Red Cross, etc. Click here for one of the accepted CPR Certification sources.


Facility walk-through: Walk through visits and tours of school facilities by CUPF community user groups will not be considered due to concern for safety and security of MCPS staff and students.


Security staff and or law enforcement may be required for community use activities:

  • CUPF reserves the right to assign MCPS security staff and or require user groups to hire certified law enforcement officer(s) having jurisdiction in Montgomery County, Maryland, for community use that CUPF and or MCPS determine necessitates such.
  • The cost of such staff is the responsibility of the user group.
  • Some basic criteria used includes:
    • nature of the activity,
    • number of rooms being used,
    • type of room(s) being used,
    • number of participants expected,
    • experience with the user’s past activities,
    • whether student activities are scheduled during the time a community group is also scheduled on the campus,
    • traffic concerns in the vicinity of the facility being used.

The following is a general overview of what a group may expect of security staff when working for community use events and activities:

  • Introduce themselves to group leaders.
  • Check rooms before and after the group activity.
  • Assist building services staff in unlocking rooms and other doors and areas prior to use and securing them when use has concluded.
  • Remain with the group in the areas permitted for their use, monitoring activities, parking lot areas, hallways and corridors being utilized by group, etc. at all times.
  • Ensure that terms and conditions of the Facility Use License Agreement (FULA), Conditions of Use and other guidance or instructions provided to community groups are followed.