Schools Stepping Up Efforts To Keep Classrooms Safe

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Schools across the country are finding ways to keep classrooms safe. While the old method may have been to close the classroom door and hide, new strategies include keeping doors shut at all times and teaching teachers and staff how to fight back.

Now, there are also new products flooding the market aimed at barricading doors in a moment's notice.

KDKA's Heather Abraham went to Aquinas Academy in Greensburg, where they are using a product called Nightlock.

There is a metal plate on the door and one on the floor as well. A locking handle can then quickly be dropped in between the plates, creating a barricade in seconds.

"That makes it so secure that even if you have a heavyweight guy like me, throwing yourself against the door, you can't get it open," said Principal Dr. Eugene Dangelo.

At the Allegheny Clarion Valley School District in Clarion County, they began working on a safety plan more than a decade ago. It has evolved over the years and now includes a safe room for administrators, two-way radios, panic buttons that alert state police, security cameras all over the campus and just recently, barricade devices.

Superintendent David McDeavitt says the district applied for a Safe Schools Initiative grant and received roughly $20,000.

They purchased a product called Barracuda. This lockdown device works by placing a metal bar across the door. Magnets keep it place, as well as a latch.

"We want to get into a lockdown situation as quick as possible," McDeavitt said. "We can't educate the students if the staff and the students aren't safe."

South Fayette Police Sgt. John Leininger instructs other first responders through a program called ALERRT, which stands for Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training.

He's done numerous active-shooter drills in schools in Western Pennsylvania. He says that layers of protection will slow down the threat and keep them moving.

"A lot of these things are premeditated, where they have a plan to go in and take as many lives as possible in a very short amount of time," said Sgt. Leininger. "With that being said, they're most likely going to take the path of least resistance."

A former FBI agent explained that the best tactic is to look at a school's vulnerabilities and find safety solutions. At Sandy Hook Elementary, where 20 first graders were killed in 2012, Adam Lanza shot out a window next to the locked front doors and entered the building. Once inside, he was able to enter the open classrooms.
The final report from Sandy Hook Advisory Commission included recommendations.

The first said that all classroom doors should be able to be locked from the inside, stating that, "There has never been an event in which an active shooter breached a locked classroom door."

Of course, an issue for many school districts is the cost of securing buildings.

"It is unfortunate because there's not a whole lot of money in education right now," said McDeavitt. "So, most schools can't afford this without possible grants."

Another issue is the fire and building codes.

In Ohio, there was a battle over barricade devices and whether they created more safety issues by essentially trapping children in a classroom. Eventually, the state agreed that schools were allowed to use them.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Labor and Industry oversees building codes and said the following of barricade devices in schools:

"In Pennsylvania, barricade devices are generally prohibited. Doors serving as a means of egress in a school must be readily opened from the egress side at all times, without the use of a key, special knowledge, or effort.

There are some exceptions in the state's Building Code that permit certain doors to be locked in order to prevent entry and to address security concerns. An example is school entrance doors equipped with an approved access control system.

BOIS (Bureau of Occupational and Industrial Safety) would not cite the use of these devices in an emergency situation; however, if the emergency barricade is being used in a way (i.e. daily) other than its intended purpose (i.e., during an emergency), then BOIS would cite the violation."

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