Local parents worry whether classrooms without doors are safe. Here’s the district’s plan

Discovery Elementary School classrooms will get doors next year.

The Peninsula School District announced the project Wednesday, Dec. 14 in a news release.

The school was built in 1981 with an open floor plan concept, meaning the classrooms do not have interior doors. Discovery Elementary is the only school in the district without them. It’s the last school in the district from the open-plan era.

Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Gig Harbor-area parents told the Peninsula School District that they had safety concerns about the lack of classroom doors at Discovery and that they believed something needed to change. District leaders met with parents and teachers at a June 8 meeting.

At that time, assistant superintendent John Hellwich said the district would need to establish a process to determine its highest priorities, to examine the advantages of potential changes, and to decide how to spend its funds.

Discovery Elementary parent Brittany Rushing asked in June: “Does a tragedy need to happen here for things to change?”

Six months later, the district has plans for new doors.

“Recent tragic events in our country have understandably raised awareness and fears in our community, and Discovery is the only school in the district without doors,” Hellwich said in the Dec. 14 news release. “We felt it was necessary to prioritize this project.”

“Beyond security measures, interior doors on classrooms will help create better learning environments for students by decreasing outside noise,” the news release said.

Project timeline

Work is expected to begin late June 2023 and finish by September 2023, according to the release.

The district said in the news release that: “PSD Capital Projects are in the process of submitting applications for the proper permits to complete the project. Once permits are obtained, the district will start receiving bids from local contractors early in 2023.”

At this time, there isn’t an estimated cost for the project, according to the press release.

“The funds for this project come from the Capital Projects Fund budget and were generated by a past land sale,” the news release said.

Check back for updates, this is a developing story