A retired fire marshal from Texas recently shared a link to a news story from CBS News, and there are several good points made in the report with regard to school security. For example:
“Texas schools will spend millions on technology this year to harden campuses, but experts say the best line of defense at schools remains a door and a lock. ‘It’s the perimeter. It’s the basis of where you start,’ said school safety and security analyst Guy Bliesner. ‘A properly locked classroom door has not been breached in a school shooting. We have no history of that happening. That means it’s an effective deterrent.’ “
Over the summer, Texas schools were required to complete a list of training, assessments, and inspections, including an Exterior Door Safety Audit. The audit tracker includes an assessment of mullions (pairs only), reinforced frames, door closers, locks, and/or panic hardware for each exterior door, along with a floor plan to identify the exterior access points for the building. Schools are also required to perform safety checks periodically throughout the school year, and inspectors from the Texas School Safety Center will be conducting unannounced intruder audits.
Could similar assessments become standard practices for other states?
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I’ve been recommending these inspections for at least 30 years. But it can come back to haunt you if you are not prepared to fix the doors that have problems.
Sadly, it’s often not the hardware on the doors, but rather human error and /or non-compliance of well stated policies regarding security. And the “fix” costs schools lots of money, and sadly again, that’s in short supply almost everywhere. It seems the common stance is “we won’t comply and hope for the best.”