NEWS

State senator working on school barricade issue

Chad Klimack
Reporter
  • State Sen. Jay Hottinger has met with parents about a school barricade issue.
  • Hottinger also has met with state leaders.
  • The senator says the issue is a statewide issue%2C not just a local school issue.

NEWARK -- An Ohio state senator said Monday that state leaders are working to address the controversy surrounding barricading classroom doors after a state board ruled last week that the tools are not allowed under Ohio building codes.

"As I understand it now, every single (barricade) device out there is in violation of building codes and fire codes," said Sen. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark.

Hottinger quickly added that he is doing what he can to address the situation. That includes setting up a future meeting with state officials to discuss a compromise.

"Basically, we've got to answer the question of, in the event of a live shooting, do we barricade doors or do we not barricade doors?" Hottinger said.

Parents from the Southwest Licking School District called on Hottinger to intercede on their behalf both before and after the Ohio Department of Commerce's Division of Industrial Compliance Board of Building Appeals voted Feb. 23 to deny the district's appeal to use removable door barricade devices.

The parents raised more than $30,000 to outfit every classroom in the district with the devices, but the state ruling temporarily dashed their hopes of seeing them put to use if ever needed.

Hottinger said he met with two of the parents in January, and afterward, he set up a meeting with State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and state Department of Commerce Director Andre Porter.

The issue might seem straightforward, Hottinger said, but it is not.

"No one disputes that, in the case of a live shooter, it makes a lot of sense (to use one of the devices)," he said. "The concern is if the devices are used in an inappropriate manner."

Flowers and others have raised some legitimate concerns regarding the use of the devices, Hottinger said.

One of those concerns is that a student could use such a device to lock a door and physically or sexually assault another student.

"Building codes and fire codes have to be cognizant of all different sorts of circumstances," Hottinger said.

Southwest Licking parents have argued that, in the event of an armed intruder, it is much easier for a teacher to grab one of the devices and bar a door as opposed to pushing cabinets, desks and chairs against a door.

A state school safety task force recommended barricading classroom doors in a 2013 report, and so-called ALICE school intruder training also recommends it.

Southwest Licking is far from the only district monitoring the issue closely, Hottinger added.

Many districts are likely remaining mum on the issue, he said, for fear they also could run afoul of local and state fire and building codes. Others are keeping quiet because they don't want to reveal a facet of their school safety plans.

"There are school districts all across the state that have proceeded with the purchase of these devices," he said. "This is not just a Southwest Licking issue."