Doors are locked. You have to buzz to get the door opened then you sign in and get a visitor's badge.

By default visitors typically state what they are doing there and the visitor's log has a spot to fill it in. But I'm not sure if they actually make you declare your reason for being there and your destination or not.

Anonymous wrote:They are now saying that the gunman forced his way into school and was NOT buzzed in because he was the son of someone they knew.

Of someone is mental unstable and wants to force entry into a school, or any other facility, they can likely find a way. ANy system that relies on people to buzz in other people, to do a "Hey, I know you" check, or to be involved in entry at all is not a secure facility. I think the locked doors serve as more of a deterrent for the hooligan type person - for the more minor offenders than the truly crazy I want to go on a shooting spree type person. It's not a true security system unless there's a screening (TSA can't even get that one right), or some sort of fingerprint or other bio scan that is checked against aan approved list. Hell, in FCPS we dont' even do background checks on parents that come in.

They are now saying that the gunman forced his way into school and was NOT buzzed in because he was the son of someone they knew.

My school emailed us today to tell us that the policy during a lockdown is, the teachers lock the doors, turn off the lights, and gather the kids in a corner where it's (supposedly) not possible to see kids from the locked door. So all the guy has to do is blow the lock off the door.

How about metal doors that work like sliding doors, or like garage doors, to go over the regular door in an emergency, and make it almost impossible for a gunman to open? Basically he'd have to spend the time totally shredding it with a machine gun.

I'm in MoCo, doors at the two elementaries where I have kids are locked and visitors must be buzzed in. Which is good. BUT. At one school, the office is located aross the hall, at an intersection of two hallways, meaning that it would be physically impossible for people in the office to monitor where any visitors might roam. And frankly no one pays any attention to whether parents check in, whether volunteers wear their stickers, etc. On a day when there is an event in a kids' classroom or a whole-grade event, they barely bother with the check-in process. And for afterschool activities, the doors are unlocked - meaning as soon as the last bell has run, anyone can walk into the school. Oh yes, and the school playgrounds and playing fields are not fenced, and anyone can gain access that way. Both schools have portables; I presume those are also more vulnerable. I am not outraged at the schools for these lapses, to be honest; its a huge shift in culture to treat schools like areas of potential threat. But sadly I guess we have to move in this direction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have all of this ^^ but at the end of the day if someone comes in with a bunch of guns, they can bust through the locked doors, yeah?
I'm fine with talking about ways to make buildings more secure, but I want to make sure we are simultaneously having a discussion about gun control.

Yes, they can bust through. But every barrier you put up, every delay they have to wrestle with, gives more time for possible victims to get away.

I'm fine with having a discussion about gun control but my concern is, we will never win that. Meantime we have to focus on what we CAN control.

Thank you. A struggle or shooting through locked front doors would have given police more time to get there and less carnage.

Others-Quit saying it would do nothing. School officials don't want the added hassle or $ to implement.

Anonymous wrote:We have all of this ^^ but at the end of the day if someone comes in with a bunch of guns, they can bust through the locked doors, yeah?
I'm fine with talking about ways to make buildings more secure, but I want to make sure we are simultaneously having a discussion about gun control.

Yes, they can bust through. But every barrier you put up, every delay they have to wrestle with, gives more time for possible victims to get away.

I'm fine with having a discussion about gun control but my concern is, we will never win that. Meantime we have to focus on what we CAN control.

Anonymous wrote:If Walmart can hire greeters to stand by the doors- why aren't our schools doing the same?

Nobody should be walking into a school sight unseen without being checked for weapons. It sucks that our society has degraded to this level, but its where we are and safety should come ahead of convenience.

LOL, except Walmart is a gazillion-dollar, multinational corporation, whereas, in this country, public schools often don't have enough budget to cover all *teaching* staff. Yes , it's perfectly do-able (and comparable to Walmart's situation) for all public schools to hire someone (who would have to be armed in order to have a chance at stopping a determined nut job) to stand in front of the door all day, every school day. And doing it in the land of "I'm not giving any more of my hard-earned money to government!"

It's also perfectly do-able and within budget to retrofit all schools to be mini-bunkers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll go:
Fairfax Co elementary school. Doors locked during the day. You ring a doorbell and are buzzed right in. You are then supposed to go to Office to sign-in. HOWEVER, nobody asks who you are, what you want, etc. prior to buzzing you into the Office. The last part really disturbs me---esp after today.

I just got off the phone with my cousins that are teachers in Connecticut, and my retired Aunt. Their school system you have to state your name and be identified BEFORE they will unlock the door. I am not saying that would prevent what happened today--but it seems like a much better policy.

I was coming in today at 2:30 to volunteer and I was standing in the shadow of a woman in front who buzzed, immediately door clicked open and we walked in. I HATE this and going to ask Principal about it.

I could have written this post. Is that you JT? This is JD. I am thinking about taking up this issue with the school. Perhaps we should get a group of parents together.

I am actually in APS-- I sometimes change names for anonymity.

I plan to get a group at our school.

We have all of this ^^ but at the end of the day if someone comes in with a bunch of guns, they can bust through the locked doors, yeah?
I'm fine with talking about ways to make buildings more secure, but I want to make sure we are simultaneously having a discussion about gun control.

PP again. I think the actual architecture - layout - of schools needs to change. The school needs to be locked and secure. There needs to be a SEPARATE area for parents to come and go and other visitors to transact business with the office. The office should be as secure as possible - as secure as any office can be.

The more extreme version of this vision would be a wall of glass between the administrators and the public. Preferably a bullet proof wall of glass.

I don't care if he's a teacher's kid. He should not have had access to the school. She wasn't even there (she was home dead, I know He's an adult male, not a parent, not a student. No reason to let him in.

Even with parents, you have to be careful. You can't know if it's a crazy parent, a bad custody situation..... The parent should wait in the vestibule while the child is called down from the classroom.