Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
ONCE THE "locking handle" of the Nightlock barrier drops into place, the classroom door becomes almost impossible to open from the outside. These devices are being installed in all Upper Peninsula classrooms using grant money from the Department of Homeland Security. ONCE THE "locking handle" of the Nightlock barrier drops into place, the classroom door becomes almost impossible to open from the outside. These devices are being installed in all Upper Peninsula classrooms using grant money from the Department of Homeland Security.
Schools throughout Gogebic County will be safer in the upcoming months after they are equipped with special classroom door locks as part of a Upper Peninsula-wide grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
The grant money, which is directed through the Michigan State Police, will install "Nightlock Lockdown Door Barricades for Extreme Emergencies" on the interior of classroom doors that are designed to prevent entry to the room in case of an emergency, such as a school shooting.
According to Gogebic County Emergency Management Coordinator Jim Loeper, the locks are being installed in the eastern part of the U.P. first and, while the age of some of the schools in Gogebic County require some extra forms dealing with historic preservation, NAME hopes to have the locks installed by midsummer.
According to Loeper, Ironwood will receive 51 locks - 42 at Luther L. Wright and nine at Sleight School, Bessemer will receive 41 locks - 25 at A.D. Johnston and 15 at Washington Elementary, All Saints Catholic Academy will receive five locks, GOCAA Head Start will receive six locks, Wakefield-Marenisco will receive 15 locks and Watersmeet will receive 30 locks.
Information on the company's website shows the locks function by inserting the locking handle into the holes in the door and floor plates to create an obstacle that keeps the door from opening and can't be reached through most school doors. A video on the website shows the doors equipped with the locks as virtually impenetrable, resisting even a sledgehammer. A special key is provided to schools to ensure that the rooms can be accessed by authorized personnel, as needed.
According to Wakefield-Marenisco superintendent Catherine Shamion, some of the classrooms in the district are already equipped with the locks, however the grant funding will allow the rest of the classrooms to be outfitted, as well.
Shamion also praised the simplicity of the system.
"Teachers just have to close the door and it will be (locked)," Shamion said.
Ironwood Schools Superintendent Tim Kolesar considers the locks as a single part of the district's more comprehensive safety plan.
"When it comes to safety in this building, we do have the new door-buzzer system. We have cameras throughout the building," said Kolesar. "... after every (emergency drill conducted) we sit down and look at 'OK, what went right and what went wrong,' ... we just go out of our way, right now, to constantly refine all of our current drill practices. With every one that we do, I think the kids are more comfortable with the whole process."
The locks cost $74 apiece, which includes installation, according to Loeper.
