This report gives a very good overview of what we’re up against in the mission to secure schools while maintaining life safety. If funding is not available, schools will come up with their own solutions. If those solutions are not code-compliant, legislators will override the codes. This will continue to happen until another tragedy occurs. I wonder how many tragedies it will take.
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Writing a building code isn’t necessarily a proactive thing. A code is typically written/updated as a reaction to a tragedy that probably resulted in a loss of life. Maintenance budgets are tight so quick, easy, and cheap solutions are coming out of the woodwork- life safety codes be damned. Again, this is such an emotional issue that logic is all but abandoned.
When I worked with the school district we figured one school’s locks could be retrofitted for about $65 in parts (not including the labor to remove, retrofit, and reinstall) so they could lock from the inside. The mortise locks shown in this news segment could likewise be retrofitted to solve that particular problem.
The systemic problem as I see it is that people don’t want to have to think about security. They want a button, a piece of hardware, or a sheet of glass to keep them safe. But there is no magic button. Every school, every facility has to be assessed and addressed on it’s own conditions. It’s a combination of training, AND other elements like hardware that will make a difference.
I find it interesting that schools find the funds to install artificial turf for their football, baseball, & softball fields. This also means that they must install new lighting, seating, press box, sound system, & score boards and they think that is more important then saving the lives of their children, because it would take less then half of the money spent on one of these fields to update/replace the locks with code compliant locks on the classrooms in the school and if the school boards would sell it the right way to companies that would donate money for updating the locks and cameras by having the companies name on signs thanking them for making the school a safer place for the children and the signs need to be seen from both sides of the field and maybe the company mentioned by the announcer once each half and thanked for helping make the school safe. Since both the state and federal legislators are more worried about cutting taxes, their benefit package, & salary instead of making sure that the children of our future get a excellent education by well paid excellent teachers in a secure environment where teachers have the tools they need to teach to the best of their ability knowing that there are security people to help keep the school safe and that if & when something goes wrong {and it will no matter what is done} they will be kept as safe can be done without the building being a prison. People need to understand that every time that taxes are cut you are going to lose something be that excellent teachers because you pay them enough, school security because it costs money to keep up to date, roads without pot holes, bridges that are safe and don’t fall down, & prisons for the people that belong there.