As I’ve said before, I would like to collect the official statements on school security from various jurisdictions, to get a more complete picture of what is being approved from one state to the next.  Back in September I posted a memo from the New York State Education Department, and today I received a copy of the Ohio Advisory Statement that I mentioned in yesterday’s post.  You can find a copy of the complete document on the City of Dayton’s website.

In my opinion, the statement is pretty clear:

“BBS and SFM recognize the importance of site safety plans and training programs, but we do not endorse or reject any specific site safety plan in lieu of required approvals from the local political subdivision’s certified building department and, as applicable, the fire code official and any other oversight agency. However, as schools review their safety features, everyone must remember that there are code requirements common to the exiting system in Educational occupancies:

  • Doors in the means of egress must be readily openable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort;
  • Manually operated flush bolts or surface bolts are not permitted;
  • The unlatching of any door or leaf in the means of egress shall not require more than one operation.”

Whether this will be upheld or overturned remains to be seen.  Stay tuned…

Ohio Advisory Statement - Egress in Educational Occupancies pg 1 Ohio Advisory Statement - Egress in Educational Occupancies pg 2

If you have similar documentation from another jurisdiction, please send it to me.  Thank you to Michael Fox of Allegion for sharing the information from Ohio.

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.