Essentials Magazine Essentials Fall 2019 | Page 11

School Safety
T
here were 94 acts of school gun violence in the United States
in 2018, which is 59% higher than the previous record of 59 in
2006, according to a U.S. Naval Postgraduate study. Emotion-
ally charged and complex issues surround the challenge of stopping
or preventing school shootings. But we all agree we need to keep our
students, teachers and administrators safe at school.
To this end, school boards and other
authorities are desperately seeking
quick, inexpensive fixes to keep kids,
teachers and administrators secure
in schools. But installing barricade
devices can create unintended con-
sequences and, in most cases, are not
code compliant.
“After a school shooting incident,
parents, teachers, adminis-
trators and elected officials
believe that they must do
something — anything —
so they often turn to quick
fixes such as barricade
devices that they mistakenly
think are better than noth-
ing,” says Jerry S. Heppes
Sr., CAE, CEO of DHI and
DSSF. “One of our goals
is to educate stakeholders
about the issues surrounding barricade
devices.”
Barricade devices may produce
unintended consequences. This is par-
ticularly true in circumstances where
students are locked in a classroom with
the shooter, or when first responders
are unable to get into a classroom to
evacuate students during a shooting
or fire. Likewise, a barricade device
may keep a student trapped in a room
with a bully, or result in a sexual assault
scenario in which the victim cannot
escape, or lead to additional unintend-
ed consequences. (For statistics, go to
www.lockdontblock.org.)
For these reasons, the Door Security
& Safety Foundation (DSSF) launched
the “Opening the Door to School Safe-
ty” campaign in 2016. The campaign
explains the dangers and unintended
consequences of using barricade devices
as a means of keeping students, teachers
and administrators safe during a shoot-
ing incident. In fact, sometimes the
door needs to be open for school safety,
and sometimes it needs to be closed for
security. Additionally, it’s important to
understand that code-compliant hard-
ware exists, which can address concerns
for both life safety and security, as well
as budget, for our classrooms.
The campaign’s tagline — Lock
Don’t Block — is used for the website
(www.lockdontblock.org), social media
hashtag (#lockdontblock) and refer-
enced in the campaign materials.
Background
The centerpiece of the initial 2016
campaign was a new website and a
video that included quotes from two
experts outside of the industry, a state
fire marshal and a school security
expert, who explained the unintended
consequences of classroom door barri-
cade devices.
“Through the campaign, DSSF has
been able to create collaborations with
like-minded organizations,” says Sha-
ron Newport, CAE, executive director
of DSSF and vice president of opera-
tions for DHI. “Among these organi-
zations are Safe and Sound Schools,
National Fire Protection Association,
National Association of State Fire
Marshals, Partner Alliance for Safer
Schools, AASA – The School Superin-
tendents Association and the Secure
Schools Alliance. We look forward to
expanding our efforts in the future.” In
addition to these collaborative efforts,
DHI/DSSF was instrumental in the
NFPA 3000 Active Shooter/Hostile
Event Response (ASHER) program.
What’s Next
While the Opening the Door to
School Safety campaign remains focused
on explaining the dangers of barricade
devices to decision makers and stake-
holders, the sudden explosion of policy
changes permitting barricade devices to
be installed in school classrooms requires
DSSF to be even more proactive.
“These policy changes set a danger-
ous precedent — one that DSSF and
our partners are attempting to
stop,” Newport says. “This is why
we need more local and regional
efforts, and that’s where our mem-
bers and stakeholders can help.”
To respond to this plethora of
policy changes, the campaign is
monitoring federal, state and local
legislation.
“It’s challenging because
many of these legislative at-
tempts are buried in seemingly
irrelevant bills,” Heppes says. “Law-
makers are attempting to circum-
vent current building codes and use
a back-door approach that allows
schools to install classroom barricade
devices. We need more boots on the
ground to help us find these hidden
agendas, as well as monitor and track
this legislation.”
Heppes continues: “It’s so critical to
mobilize our grassroots efforts across
the United States to help us win this
crucial war. At stake are the innocent
lives of teachers, students and other
school officials. Frankly, it’s a battle we
cannot afford to lose.”
DSSF Ambassador Program
The good news is that the majority
of DSSF supporters and DHI mem-
bers are in a position to help. Many are
equipped to serve as local experts who
can educate elected officials, school ad-
ministrators and related professionals
about the dangers of barricade devices.
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