About SafeSchool
Our Mission
SafeSchool exists to ensure every school in America has access to the best safety technology, regardless of budget.
The Story
A 20-year QA veteran saw the problem from inside the access control industry: schools stuck with expensive, proprietary safety systems that didn't talk to each other. Small manufacturers locked out because building complete software stacks costs millions. And students paying the price.
SafeSchool was built to fix this. By creating a universal, open standard for school safety technology, we give every school access to enterprise-grade protection for free — funded by manufacturer memberships, built with AI-assisted development, and open source from day one.
Leadership
Brian Wattendorf
Founder & Executive Director
A 20-year veteran of the access control industry, Brian saw firsthand how proprietary silos left schools with expensive, inflexible safety systems. He founded SafeSchool to create a universal, open standard.
Transparency
We publish annual reports showing exactly how membership fees are used. Every dollar goes to platform development, hosting, and the certification program. No hidden costs. No surprises.
Open Source Philosophy
SafeSchool is licensed under AGPL because school safety technology should be transparent, auditable, and community-driven. When lives are at stake, closed-source black boxes aren't good enough.
View on GitHubGet in touch
partners@safeschool.org