Schools take opposite approaches on locking classroom doors

ARLINGTON, Wash. - They come standard in every school building, but in the debate over campus safety, districts are split on whether or not to use the locks on classroom doors.

Arlington Public Schools locks the perimeter doors, but not the ones for each classroom. However, in the Kent School District, teachers were just told this week that all doors must be latched shut.

“Today, yesterday and Wednesday, it was official. We had all of our doors locked all day,” said Spencer McLaughlin, a senior at Kentwood High School.

At first, McLaughlin said the new policy in Kent seemed like a good idea and he felt safer. Then he considered the students who routinely step out of class to go to the bathroom or visit the office, and what that would mean if a shooter was in the building.

“No one wants to be that kid who gets left out in the hallway,” McLaughlin said.

On the other side is Gregg Winter, whose son attends middle school in Arlington.

“Lock the doors. It's just as simple as that," Winter said.

Arlington school officials said locked classroom doors would create too many disruptions as students try to come and go while teachers present their lessons. Instead, the district monitors the main entrance and locks the perimeter doors.

Winter said while that may be the policy, in practice he sees people using multiple entry points.

“If we're going to secure the building, secure it, have one entrance,” Winter said. “Then the interior locks aren’t that big of a deal."

McLaughlin is undecided on locked doors. He said what got left out during the change is an explanation to students about how to respond if they are caught on the wrong side of the door.

“I'd like to see, maybe even a day or two, try to train kids and teach them what to do,” McLaughlin said.

Arlington school officials said they will be unveiling several new security changes in the coming weeks. The district had hoped to invest in surveillance systems and "hardened" entryways, but in February voters shot down the bond that would have paid for it.

Now the district will focus on new practices that could achieve the same safety goals using existing resources. They said the changes could be in place before the end of April.