Inside: Doors

Door barricades

Some parents say security devices installed at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., may have prevented a student from taking more lives in a November 2021 shooting, but school safety advocates say the barricade devices should not be used in classrooms.

WDIV-TV reports that the door barricades were put into place in many classrooms at Oxford High when word spread that a shooting incident was in progress. When the metal doorstops are put into place, they prevent a potential intruder from entering a classroom.

Such barricades have been controversial. The Door Security and Safety Foundation says using the barricades may lead to unintended consequences that endanger student safety.

"School districts looking to install classroom door barricades devices must also weigh the possibility of an exit being blocked during an emergency, the foundation says. "In the event of a fire, these devices could delay egress resulting in fatalities."

Oakland County, Mich., Sheriff Michael Bouchard says the barricades may have prevented the shooter from entering more classrooms and injuring more students.

Four students were killed and seven other people were injured in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High.

Ethan Crumbley, 15, is facing four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting. His parents, James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for allegedly failing to take steps to prevent their son from carrying out the attack.

Lock Don't Block

The Door Security and Safety Foundation's "Opening the Door for School Safety" campaign has worked for several years to educate school officials about how to deal with classroom doors when a school lockdown is necessary.

The foundation says schools should follow these steps to meet the recommendations of the National Association of State Fire Marshals regarding what classroom door locking mechanisms can and should do.

• Doors open (even when locked) from the inside with one smooth, simple motion and no tight grasping, bending or reaching.'
• No special tool, training or knowledge is required to exit through the classroom door.
• Door can lock and unlock from the inside of the room, allowing students and staff to stay behind a closed door during an emergency.

The foundation says that although some classroom door barricade devices are perceived to be less expensive and provide additional security, they may cause problems when incidents of bullying, harassment or physical violence take place.

"Most barricade devices prevent access from the outside, so even a staff member or emergency responder with a key to the classroom door would not be able to enter," the foundation says.

The foundation say it is critical that barricade devices are vetted through the formal fire and building code process to ensure that the proper balance of life safety and security is met. 

Door Security

The National Association of State Fire Marshals has compiled a checklist for schools to follow as they determine what kinds of doors and should be installed in classrooms.

• The door should be lockable from inside the classroom without requiring the door to be opened.
• Egress from the classroom through the classroom door should be without the use of a key, a tool, special knowledge, or effort.
• For egress, unlatching the classroom door from inside the classroom should be accomplished with one operation.
• The classroom door should be lockable and unlockable from outside the classroom.
• Door operating hardware should be operable without tight grasping, tight pinching, or twisting of the wrist.
• Door hardware operable parts should be located between 34 and 48 inches above the floor.
• The bottom 10 inches of the “push” side of the door surface should be smooth.
• If the school building does not have an automatic fire sprinkler system, the classroom door and door hardware may be required to be fire-rated and the door should be self-closing and self-latching.
• If the door is required to be fire-rated, the door should not be modified in any way that invalidates the required fire-rating of the door and/or door hardware.