Every classroom door in the Beavercreek (Ohio) district's six elementary schools will have a lock installed after a parents group raised the money for the security upgrade.
The Dayton Daily News reports that parents formed the nonprofit group Creek Safe Inc. and raised $52,000 for the equipment.
The locks can be quickly engaged to prevent unwanted intruders from entering a room,
The parents group came together last year to improve school safety after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. It held 55 fundraising events in about five months, says co-founder Jennifer Beck.
The district hopes to have locks installed by the end of winter break. In all, 320 locks were purchased, enough to cover every door in the district’s six elementary school buildings.
A California company, Anchorman Inc., makes the locks, which can be unlocked from the outside only by a special key that police or firefighters will have access to.
Bellbrook Fence Company is donating labor to install the locks in the schools, organizers said.
The Creek Safe parents have now set their sights set on buying more locks for the district’s freshman building, two middle schools and high school. They have set a goal of raising $70,000.
