Fenty Announces Strategy for Increased School Security

WASHINGTON, DC—Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, joined by key members of his administration, today announced a targeted plan to improve security and safety at schools across the city. The plan will employ recommendations for perimeter security, many of which were identified in a 2004 report authored by the School Perimeter Task Force following a fatal shooting at Ballou Senior High that year. These recommendations were never implemented.

“It is critical that we abide by the law while still ensuring that our students can learn in a safe environment,” said Mayor Fenty. “Unfortunately, when this issue was raised back in 2004, no action was taken. Today we are committing to make sure that this does not continue to go unaddressed.”

When Mayor Fenty took over DC Public Schools (DCPS) in June 2007, it was learned that DC Fire Marshal had identified 2496 fire code violations at schools across the city, including ones intended to be a short-term security fix at Ballou—chains and padlocks on most of its doors. As of today, 2143 fire code violations have been abated with 353 violations remaining, a decrease of nearly 86 percent. Of the remaining violations, 266 are facilities related with the remainder being minor fixes.

However, by meeting the fire code through removal of chains and padlocks at some schools, security issues have resulted. City officials crafted a strategy to address these security issues, beginning with a 3-month, $5 million plan to replace doors at eight targeted schools to improve building security.

OPEFM Security/Door Solutions
As part of the FY08 Stabilization Program, the DC Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM) has examined measures to improve building security though various capital improvements, including new doors, locking mechanisms, identity card readers, digital cameras and monitoring systems.  When the DC Fire Marshal identified fire code violations at Ballou in early