Volusia County Schools are preparing for a new piece of legislation that requires schools to be locked down at all times.
House Bill 1473, or “All Doors Locked”, takes effect on Aug. 1 this year. The bill requires that school districts “establish new perimeter and door safety requirements with which school districts and charter school governing boards must comply.”
The safety requirements include:
“Keeping routes of ingress and egress securely closed and locked when students are on campus, or actively staffed when open or unlocked.
“Requiring that violations of such perimeter and safety requirements be reported to the applicable school official or governing board.
“Classrooms to be locked, or actively staffed, during class time, and for classrooms to have the safest part of the room marked.
“Each school district to develop a progressive discipline policy for instructional and administrative personnel who knowingly violate school safety requirements.”
At the May 14 Volusia County School Board meeting, Lauren Bishard, an educator at T. DeWitt Taylor Middle-High School in Pierson voiced her concern about the new measures that are already affecting her school.
“The system we currently use is untenable. Students are locked out of buildings and can’t get to class… we don’t have enough people to just monitor doors,” Bishard said. “The district’s response was to assign a student to man the door and it’s beyond ludicrous — we would be making students the gatekeepers and putting them in the line of fire.”
Volusia County representative Danielle Johnson expanded further on the subject.
“VCS will not have any students manning doors in order to comply with HB 1473’s locked doors requirement. Principals and Safety and Security have been discussing options when it comes to complying with this new law and ensuring the safety and security of our students and staff, and we will not have students man doors.
“Safety and Security is working closely with all schools to assess and address specific situations when it comes to locked doors and gates. Many of our schools have already implemented the requirements of HB 1473 to ensure they are prepared for full implementation and compliance when the law takes effect.”
Since the law does not go into full effect until the beginning of the new school year, the Volusia County School District has the summer to work out the kinks with the new updates.
Just like the crossing guards at intersections the Sheriff could train seniors to secure the doors at local schools as part time employees. Hell I’d do that part time.
How are they thinking to mark the safe areas in each classroom? Depending on how that done, if not carefully, it will just set a target should the unthinkable happen and a gunman get in.
Well I don’t know what to think about this seriously is it an educational place or a prison where kids are locked in or locked out things seem to be worse and worse not better!!!