State lawmakers urged to amend fire, building codes to allow installing barricade locks

BOSTON - In the ongoing drive to keep children safe while at school, Massachusetts legislators have proposed changing the state’s building and fire codes to allow the installation of certain types of barricade door locks.

The locks, metal tabs that slip into a slot and prevent doors from being pushed or pulled open, are kept alongside of access points and would be deployed only in the case of emergency.

“We have seen shootings where students and teachers have been tragically injured or killed,” said Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, one of two legislators who filed bills to amend the existing state codes. “These barricade door locks provide the technology to be used, on a temporary basis, to create a safe harbor in school classrooms.”

The senator pointed out that the changes proposed by the bills would provide additional protection to classrooms beyond traditional doorknob latches that can be easily defeated, Moore said. Many classroom doors also have windows that can be broken, and perpetrators can reach in through these openings to unlock the doors.

Currently, Massachusetts school districts can apply for a variance from local building and fire inspectors to install the devices. However, they have been considered a disruption to egress. While Moore said some 20 districts have installed the devices, others, like Sandwich, have been denied variances. Leominster reportedly has installed devices.

“In the horrific event that a shooter targets a Massachusetts public school, we must make sure teachers and students have tools available to protect themselves and minimize the risk of injury,” Moore said in a release. “Numerous studies have shown that barricading classroom doors during a school shooting is one of the most effective ways of protecting those inside, but barricading takes time, organization and able-bodied individuals who can move heavy furniture.”

The bills, with a companion bill filed by Rep. Jeffrey Turco, D-Winthrop, were presented to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security Monday. The measure is designed to amend state building and fire codes for public structures to allow the installation of the devices. The bill would allow school districts to opt to install the locks, and there would be no mandated use.

As written, the bill would direct the Executive Office of Public Safety, the Executive Office of Education and the School Building Authority to write new regulations allowing the barricade door locks to be installed in public buildings and schools.

“These devices would give police and emergency adequate time to respond to a call for an active school shooter or other emergencies,” Moore said. “This gives police time to respond and provides some protection for staff and students.”

According to State Fire Marshal Jon Davine, classroom and egress doors “must comply with the provisions of the State Building Code.” The doors, he points out in the yearly memorandum the state Department of Fire Services prepared in conjunction with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, are critical components in the means of a structure's egress system and “must be maintained in a manner that allows students and staff to exit the building safely.

“Specifically, the code requires all egress doors to be readily openable from the egress side with a single operation and without the use of a key, special knowledge or effort,” Davine noted in his document.

Mass. fire codes have specific requirements for school door locks

• No tight grasping, pinching or wrist twisting to operate a lock

• Locking hardware must be installed between 34 and 48 inches above a finished floor

• Manually operated bolt locks or surface locks are not permitted

• Unlatching of a door or door leaf must be completed in one action

• Electromagnetic locks are approved for use

• If a latching door serves 50 or more people, panic or fire exit hardware is required along the means of egress

In his document, Davine recommends classroom doors be equipped with single-action locks, and that doors be kept closed and locked at all times during school operation. “Doors may prevent entering at any time, but they must not restrict exiting,” he said.

Davine noted that the “majority of retrofit classroom door security and barricade devices do not comply with the requirements of the building code." But he also pointed out that door-locking devices are available that comply and can “provide a level of safety while still maintaining egress from within a classroom.”

While the bill was born after a manufacturer of the product approached the senator to suggest Massachusetts be one of the states to allow the use of the technology, Moore said his measure was not product-specific.

Several manufacturers market similar products.

Manufacturer testifies at hearing

One of the companies that makes the locks, Nightlock Door Security Devices, attended the hearing Monday.

“These are used nationwide in schools,” said Jack Taylor, the owner of Nightlock, a Minnesota-based company. Speaking at the Monday hearing, Taylor told legislators that “sometime a locking doorknob is not enough” to protect children and staff in an emergency.

“This is a higher level of security,” Taylor said.

In testimony, supporters of the bill told the committee that the barricade locks were instrumental in saving student lives in a 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, when an armed gunman opened fire in a bathroom. Students transitioning between classrooms in the hallways rushed into classrooms where they were able to barricade the doors. While four students, two in the bathroom and two in the hallway, died, many were saved by being able to shelter in barricaded rooms.

Student lives were also saved in a March incident in Nashville, Tennessee, where six classrooms were barricaded with an emergency lock, according to a Nightlock employee who also testified before the committee.

Moore said the proposed legislation has “widespread support” from school safety advocates, teachers and parents.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: As mass shootings increase nationwide, MA seeks ways to keep kids safe