A 21 News investigation shows that nearly 70% of schools in Trumbull County have temporary barricades on classroom doors that may prevent firefighters from rescuing students in the event of a fire.

The safety concern comes after the school districts installed the same barricades to protect students from active shooters.

Temporary barricades used in local schools are legal in Ohio. They have been legal to install since 2015 when Ohio lawmakers changed fire code to allow the barricades in schools under specific conditions.

"There's really no state-approved devices, but there is a pathway for people to legally install aftermarket barricades. The law that was approved has a number of conditions, so the building code official has to approve it. They have to be able to be released in one motion or two motions if there is a sprinkled building," said Ohio's State Fire Marshal Jeff A. Hussey.

The law allows schools to purchase barricades under strict conditions, but it puts districts in a unique position, pinning one form of safety against another.

It's a predicament Lakeview Schools experienced this past summer firsthand when they took measures to protect students from a possible active shooter.

The district had latches on every classroom door since the Columbine mass shooting, a necessary precaution to lock out a gunman.

"Do I think school shootings are a real threat? If you don't, you're foolish," said Lakeview Superintendent Velina Jo Taylor.

Taylor says the district was so focused on school shooting safety, they only looked at the latches with a single eye, until the state fire marshal inspected the buildings this summer and highlighted a separate safety concern.

The state inspection prompted the school to strip the latches immediately, learning the locks posed a risk to students in the event of a fire.

"One of the most fundamental life safety systems in any public building is the ability to get out of it," said Hussey. "So when we create obstructions to that, especially when you're dealing with kids who might not be able to operate an aftermarket device or operate a complex locking system, then you've held them in that environment where they might need to exit a fire."

Howland police officer Bill Barna manufactures a temporary barricade called the Bolo Stick. He says schools should look at a school shooter as the significant threat; adding a barricade can jam a door that could otherwise be opened if a gunman breaks a classroom window and reaches inside. He says barricades on the ground put it at a spot inaccessible to a gunman.

"The additional safety of a door device buys essential time for police response," said Barna.

But with usually one point of entry into the classroom, the barricades can keep the bad and the good guys out of the classroom when in place.

"With a door barricade and aftermarket barricade it's very hard for people to get in from the outside, and sometimes a responder needs to get into that room very quickly whether that's law enforcement fire or EMS, so it's important to be able to release a lock with a key from a responder perspective so we can get in and rescue people effectively," said Hussey.

The state fire marshal says the safety concern is one of the reasons barricades are not allowed under national Nation Fire Protection Agency codes, and why barricades are illegal in any other Ohio public building that's not an educational building.

Regionally, other states have passed laws similar to Ohio to make an exception to fire code In states like Michigan and West Virginia, any school that wants to install a barricade must give first responders access.

But under Ohio law, the memo says first responders must be informed of the devices, but there's no legal requirement to give them access.

Reporter: "Do we have devices in buildings right now that are technically legal that make it hard or impossible for first responders to get into those classrooms in case of an emergency?"
Ohio's State Fire Marshal: "Yes, absolutely."

A 21 News investigation found 68% of schools in Trumbull County use temporary barricades, which make it impossible or difficult for first responders to unlock the door.

All of the devices investigated in the report were compliant with state law, but many require additional time to release the device.

First responders say the majority of first responders accessible barricades have a secret tool that allows them to unlock the doors. While others have confidential instructions that force them to use power tools to remove the hardware, piece by piece, a process that is so slow, it's concerning.

Police officer and Bolo Stick creator Bill Barna argues that if the police don't have access to a room, they change their response from an active shooter situation to a hostage situation. In some schools, classroom windows can be broken, allowing a shooter to unlock the door and get in if a barricade on the floor is not used.

Mahoning County Sheriff Deputy Jeff Saluga instructs active shooter training locally.

He says he has never used a barricading device during active shooter training, but commonly instructs participants to barricade a door with furniture and objects.

He says he can see the need for a barricade device that attaches to the floor for older school buildings where classroom doors are thin and easily pushed in but says schools that use fire doors as classroom doors may be secure with a normal lock.

"The older schools you can push the doors right in. They're little doors. But as we've gone over time, we're making things better and better for the safety of the kids such as the fire door; the thickness, they're solid, there are little windows in them, the lock mechanisms, you're not going to get in that door with that steel door frame and everything else," said Saluga.

A 21 News investigation shows 77 % of superintendents in Mahoning County say they are opting for normal locks, not barricades.
Instead, districts are investing in school resource officers, bullet-resistant film, and stronger security systems.

The state fire marshal says he would like to see other measures become more mainstream in the future, adding he would prefer deadbolts in the future because the key makes it easier for first responders.

He also says it may be time to reassess a reduction in fire alarm pull systems in schools after the Parkland school shooting, where the fire alarm may have caused teens to evacuate into the path of a shooter.

He says many schools already have sprinkler systems that soften the need for a high amount of pull systems in a school building.

He adds a deadbolt may be a stronger alternative in the future, giving first responders access to a room with a key.

The state fire marshall says while he does not believe barricades are best practice, he's not against Ohio law.
He says with the latest technology, including new barricades that quickly pop open for first responders, there's no need to sacrifice one form of safety for another.

"We don't want to get rid of good fire safety practices for the sake of increasing school safety from an aggressor or school shooter. We can do both together," said Hussey.

In many ways, both fire and police are already working together on school safety plans, integrating fire and EMS personnel into critical response teams.

"We've started to integrate the fireman with the police. So if you have a situation, it's easier to have medics there, so the casualty isn't laying there for the amount of time it takes us to get through the building and take care of the problem. So we'll clear a hallway, then they come in and start treating, and we keep moving on like a domino effect," said Saluga.

Canfield Schools say they waited for newer barricade models to come on the market before buying and purchased nearly 400 barricading devices for their district, which bolt down, secure a door, and allows emergency personnel to unlock them from the hallway.
The school district says the newer devices were more expensive, but they were able to secure a grant to help pay for the new technology.

During the 21 News investigation, the majority of schools in Trumbull and Mahoning county added the price of the barricades was a factor in deciding whether or not the district purchased them.

For Lakeview, the district was able to purchase new first responder accessible devices before students started the 2019-2020 school year.

Administrators add while the new devices put a dent in the budget, they were relatively affordable compared to other barricades on the market.

According to company websites, the majority of barricades are more than $50 per door, while some prices vary when you buy in bulk.

Nightlock Lockdown 1: $59.95 each
Bolo Stick Security Kit: $59.00
ACT and Anchor Plate: $150.00
TeacherLock Door Lockdown Kit: $219.00

Taylor adds, while schools have to find money to fund some safety measures, the state of Ohio has offered financial support in different forms, including money towards student wellness and mental health programs in schools.

She says safety will always impact school budgets, and there is a chance a school will have to scrap safety plans and make new purchases. But if they do, that's a good thing.

"When the concerns come across, it's always I don't think you're doing enough to keep kids safe. That's good cause it makes us look one more time at our plan. One more time are there any other things we can do in order to increase safety," said superintendent Taylor.

In a measure to inform viewers, while protecting school safety plans, 21 News chose only to include statistics on school safety devices instead of naming specific schools that do and do not have barricades. All superintendents and school districts named in the article consented to share the information publically.