MARTY BLOCK INTRODUCES SCHOOL SAFETY MEASURE TO PROTECT STUDENTS AND TEACHERS FROM INTRUDERS

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SB 316 would require school doors to lock from the inside

February 20, 2013 (Sacramento)--State Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego, 39th district) introduced legislation Tuesday requiring all classrooms with five or more persons to install devices that allow doors to lock from the inside by January 1, 2015. The California Federation of Teachers is sponsoring the legislation.

Following the school shooting tragedies in Newtown, Conn. and Taft, Calif., schools are rethinking safety procedures, including additional protections against campus intruders. A 2010 analysis of similar legislation estimated that 70 percent of schools already have such locks. Without the locks, teachers must go outside to secure their classrooms during emergencies. Block’s proposal would ensure that every school regardless of age complies with the inside lock requirement.

“This is a very doable safety step that protects our teachers and students from campus intruders,” Block said. “Teachers and other staff should not be forced to expose themselves unnecessarily to danger while trying to protect our students.”

Current law states that schools built after July 1, 2011 must have doors with inside locks. SB 316 also requires the new locks to allow students to freely exit at any time in case of an emergency, and any school modernization project submitted after January 1, 2014 must include the inside lock installation. 

California Federation of Teachers President Joshua Pechthalt said, "Giving a teacher or classified employee the ability to lock his or her classroom door from the inside is a simple, common sense safety measure.”Pechthalt added, “It will add a layer to school security between every child and potential harm."

Block said SB 316 would add a new defense tool to current school safety practices. “This bill would ensure that all teachers, whether on a new or old campus, have the same protection from dangerous intruders.”

 


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Comments

Just what we need?

Newtown had the latest and greatest school security locks.

Columbine shooters were students.

Taft- "Authorities believe the suspect found his older brother's gun and brought it into the just before 9 a.m. on Thursday and went to Heber's second-floor classroom where a first period science class with 20 students was taking place"

Another headline grabbing bill that does little, if anything,  to solve the school shooting issue. Instead it takes control from local school officials and requires them to spend limited funds to a solutuion for which here is no problem.