NORTHERN VALLE AREA, N.J.—At least two Northern Valley public school districts are moving to install bullet-resistant doors on classrooms—to protect students from potential harm and create safe zones impenetrable by perpetrators wielding assault-style weapons.
And about two dozen schools and religious facilities have inquired about bullet-resistant doors and are working with the manufacturer to arrange installation.
In at least one case, one school’s top official says a local elementary school can serve as “a showcase” for the value of bullet-resistant doors installed throughout a school.
The 50-plus steel bullet-resistant security doors installed at Harrington Park School—which hosted the release of a county-sponsored Safe Schools Task Force report in March—are “part of the district’s long-term security program and just one piece of overall security,” said Superintendent Dr. Adam Fried Sept. 9.
The other Northern Valley district considering installation of bullet-resistant doors is Tenafly, where no order has yet been placed nor contract signed, said Superintendent Shauna DeMarco.
However, DeMarco said the district was looking forward to a meeting later this month with Remo Security Doors, Englewood Cliffs, to discuss installing 100 bullet-resistant doors throughout its six schools—four elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Tenafly has about 400 doors district-wide.
Following the meeting, DeMarco said, the school board’s finance committee will get an update and look into specifics of the proposal.
Asked if other schools should consider installing such doors to protect students, Fried said that as superintendent he “was not big on” recommending bullet-resistant doors be mandated “but we love the idea of starting conversations about something like this…this is the most passive way to create the safest environment,” he said.
Increase in shootings
Omer Barnes, of Harrington Park, principal of Remo Security Doors, notes on the product’s website that the idea for bullet-resistant doors evolved from the increase in school shootings.
Barnes said his motivation to create bullet-resistant classroom doors came when he heard about his children having to go through lock-down drills.
Fried noted that Barnes has been especially helpful to the district and said “these doors were (possible) with the help of a family member from our community. He knew what we were looking for, and we were able to do this in a most economic and cost-effective way,” said Fried.
‘Time and frustration’
Fried said the bullet-resistant doors were approximately $2,500 apiece including installation.
“All I have to do is create time and frustration for [an active shooter],” said Fried.
“This was basically for us an opportunity to put kids in the best possible place,” he said, noting the doors are secured by strong walls and difficult to bypass.
He said external security precautions, which he declined to describe, would prevent or delay anyone trying to enter from outside.
“Everyone kind of gets it with this. Just close the door,” said Fried.
Told about grant funding to be made available soon from last year’s $500 million Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, which allocated $350 million for installing silent panic alarms under Alyssa’s Law, the superintendent welcomed the news.
“Any funding from the feds is welcomed,” he added.
Although the Safe Schools Task Force report mentions four suggested categories for a “Bergen County Safe School” designation, it does not mention much about making doors more secure.
The task force report does not include any suggestion for bullet-resistant doors under the “Building Management and Access Control” category, although one recommended “minimum standard” is “all doors must be lockable with room doors lockable without keys from the interior.”
An accreditation checklist to certify a school as a “Safe School” is due for roll-out by January 2020, according to the county task force report.
A pilot program in five school districts was scheduled to begin in fall 2019 and that should help develop interim requirements that “will evolve with further experience and study” and lead to creation of a Safe School self-assessment application.
‘Very secure’
Martin Delaney, supervising senior assistant prosecutor and Safe Schools Task Force director, said bullet resistant doors can be a plus for school security.
“We had an encounter with a very similar door that proved very secure,” he emailed when asked his thoughts on bullet-resistant doors for school districts.
Fried said police can be at the public school within several minutes of an alarm in the 2-square-mile borough.
He said installing the bullet-resistant doors was another proactive effort by the district to protect its students.
He noted each classroom contains a “go bag or stay bag” with food and medical supplies. With the doors locked, each room becomes a secure and safe enclosure.
‘A safe environment’
On Remo’s website, the company states “with over 55 million children” in school nationwide, “creating a safe learning environment should be at the forefront. No child should have to consistently practice lockdown drills in the midst of their education, instilling a level of fear that interrupts the purpose of why they are there.”
“With a multi-point locking system and bullet-resistant glass, Remo security doors have an overall durability for a lifetime of protection. Harrington Park Elementary School children are now not only safe but also have peace of mind. Remo security doors ensure that students, and educators, will be getting the maximum out of the school system. Because schools should be a place of learning, not fear,” notes the website.
‘Affordable’ for schools
The company says its goal is “to convert the time it takes to conduct these lockdown drills into time spent reading and writing” and to “produce a [security] solution that is also compliant with fire codes, practical for children to operate, and affordable for all schools to obtain.”
Asked how his company could make a $2,500 door “affordable for all schools to obtain” Barnes said the company offers financing options to schools, including five-year financing plans, with options ranging from a monthly per-student charge or a one-time charge to upgrade school doors.
He said replacing classroom doors with fire code-compliant doors may cost a similar amount, or more, and the Remo security doors are also fire-proof.
“There’s just nothing comparable,” said Barnes.
He said so far “about 20” county schools—including public and private schools and religious facilities—have begun to install or are considering such doors.
“God forbid something happens, a quick turn of the door lock and the whole room is a safe room. This replaces a soft entry point (i.e. wooden door) with a high security door,” he said.
He said the first door demonstration at Harrington Park proved a five-year-old could lock the door quickly from the inside.
He said he hoped the door would become a standard security feature in schools, mostly eliminating the need for lockdown drills and providing an immediate lockdown with the push of a button.
Cost of being safe?
Barnes said a Safe Schools Task Force member told him “everyone would ask about the door’s $2,500 cost but if something happens, that will not be an issue anymore and people will be throwing money at you for their kids to be safe. ‘Nobody wants to spend money but everyone wants to be safe,’” he said he was told.
He compared having bullet-resistant doors in schools to having an air-bag in a motor vehicle. Both have a cost but both are there to save lives if and when needed, he said.
Barnes has two children in the Harrington Park School System and said he was most thankful to Fried for his support for the bullet-resistant door, now experiencing much attention nationwide due to its instant creation of a “safe room” when locked.
Remo’s website notes bullet-resistant doors have been installed in schools in Brooklyn, as well as Newburgh and Syracuse, N.Y.
The doors weigh about 150 pounds and consist of galvanized steel with bullet-resistant glass, said Barnes.
He said more school districts, including Florida, are moving to mandate safe zones or safe rooms in schools.
Florida school shooting
In February 2018, a 14-year-old former Woodcliff Lake resident, Alyssa Alhadeff, was murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., along with 16 others during a school massacre.
The shooting kicked off a wave of nationwide protests and walkouts at high schools to protest gun violence and led to calls for stronger gun controls.
Many Bergen County school districts that had been beefing up security since 2012’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting doubled down on efforts including adding school resource officers, restricting visitor access, and adding school security officers during and after school hours.
