The Akron Legal News

Legislation would allow the use of barricade devices on classroom doors

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: May 1, 2015

A bipartisan bill has been filed into the Ohio General Assembly that would require the Board of Building Standards to adopt rules for the use of a barricade device on a school door in an emergency situation.

“Sadly, in our world today no place is immune from attacks,” said Rep. Kristina Daley Roegner.

“Terms like active shooter, hostile intruder, lockdown and domestic/international terrorism have unfortunately become an all too common part of our regular vocabulary. School shootings have occurred in quaint communities from Newtown, Conn. to the state of Washington and even right here at home in Chardon, Ohio. No place is immune and schools are correctly taking steps to ensure they are prepared.”

House Bill 114, jointly sponsored by Roegner, R-Hudson, and Rep. Heather Bishoff, D-Blacklick, would require the building standards board to adopt rules addressing the barricading of school doors in emergency situations within 180 days of the bill’s effective date.

The rules must provide that the use of a barricade device is permissible only if the device requires minimal steps to remove it after it is engaged.

The bill prohibits barricade devices from being permanently mounted to a door and the board’s rules may require that the device be visible from the exterior of the door.

Roegner said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) and the Ohio Attorney General provide guidance on what to do during an active shooter emergency.

“Barricading doors is among the key measures law-enforcement groups recommend when training school and business leaders on how to respond to an active shooter event,” she said.

“This, of course, is to prevent the active shooter from entering the room and to provide security during those precious moments until the safety forces arrive.”

Roegner said a common method for barricading doors in schools has been to pile up desks, chairs, file cabinets or whatever teachers can haul in front of the door.

“This is not only cumbersome, slow and marginally effective, it is also a potential hazard and makes a quick egress, if necessary, nearly impossible,” she said.

“Realizing this, numerous school districts across the country and several in the state of Ohio have turned to using a barricade device.”

Roegner said multiple companies are manufacturing such devices and the designs vary.

“The problem is that several of these barricades seem to be more in alignment with fire and building codes than others,” she said. “Some school districts, such as my hometown of Hudson, have successfully purchased and trained their staff on the use of these barricades and are enjoying the extra level of security that comes with them. Other school districts have purchased barricade devices, only to find that the barricade they selected does not meet the building code and cannot be deployed.”

Roegner said many district officials are not clear on which devises are authorized for use and need clarity.

“These differing interpretations of Ohio’s Building Code with regard to barricading classroom doors result not only in differing levels of protection for our children but have led to stress and turmoil across our state,” she said.

HB 114 specifies the following rules for the use of barricade devices: prevents both ingress and egress through a door for a finite period of time in an emergency; would only be permissible with minimal number of steps to remove after it is engaged; shall not be permanently mounted to the door; and there must be training and a record that verifies training.

“This legislation will provide the clarity that school districts need so that they can move forward and confidently install the appropriate lifesaving barricades that could prevent yet another tragedy here in Ohio,” Roegner said.

“Lest we think that this issue is naively simple, we need to be cognizant of what type of solution can fit within our current building and fire codes and when and how they are deployed. This bill will provide clarity in developing sensible, smart standards and enhance the safety of all students in Ohio.”

HB 114 would prohibit the State Fire Code from banning the use of a barricade device in an emergency situation.

“The Department of Homeland Security defines an active shooter as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, typically through the use of firearms,” Bishoff said, adding that in such situations, victims are often randomly selected.

“The reality is that we need protective measures to guard against the damage that active shooters seek to do.”

Bishoff said a single life lost equates to too many lives lost.

“Our schools can be safer. And, with uniform standards on the use of barricade devices, they will be,” she said.

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