Scott Maben, director of communications for Bend La Pine Schools, demonstrates the locking hardware on the door of a kindergarten classroom at North Star Elementary School in Bend.
A view of an interior door and lock hardware at a kindergarten classroom at North Star Elementary School in Bend.
Andy Tullis/The Bulletin
Scott Maben, director of communications for Bend La Pine Schools, demonstrates the locking hardware on the door of a kindergarten classroom at North Star Elementary School in Bend.
The Bend-La Pine School Board approved speeding up the replacement of door locks to improve safety and security in 3,000 classrooms and offices across the district at its Tuesday meeting.
The project was originally slated to take place over several summers, but will now begin as quickly as possible, district officials said Thursday.
One intention for the $5.5 million upgrade is to make sure locks across the district are as similar as possible and they can be easily locked from the inside. The new mechanism will also indicate whether the door is locked to people on the outside. Older door hardware requires a key to lock doors.
It’s a matter of equity, said Bend-La Pine Communications Director Scott Maben. “There are some schools that have the latest in safety and security, and some that don’t,” he said. “We want all schools to have the same access to safety and security.”
Pilot Butte Middle School, Caldera High School, and North Star Elementary, all schools that were recently built or modernized, have this door hardware installed.
The 33 schools in the Bend-La Pine district were built at different times and have a variety of door hardware.
The upgrades will ensure the locks are standard, and easy to use, said Maben. The work will be done at 28 different schools in a process that will take at least three years. Summer is a “tight window” in which to get work done, said Maben, and allowing the project to proceed during the school year means the replacement can take place at a faster pace.
Voters approved a $249.7 million bond measure in November that included the funding for this project.
Bend Police support the project.
“We support any upgrades to school buildings that allow for more safety in time of threats or emergency. We hope that the system will allow for easy access from first responders in the event of a threat,” said Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz.
Kevin Gehrig, principal at North Star Elementary, praised the new locks, which were installed at North Star when it was built in 2019. The locks were initially part of the school’s planning process from 2018 to 2019. The school opened its doors in August 2019.
Gehrig said the new locks are a definite improvement.
“The process is faster, and more efficient,” he said, adding that safety measures in the district were heading in a “good, thoughtful direction.”
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Noemi Arellano-Summer is schools, youth, and families reporter at the Bulletin. She previously reported on homelessness and the 2020 eviction moratorium with the Howard Center of Investigative Journalism through Boston University. She was raised in Long Beach, California, where she started her journalism career reporting for her high school newspaper. In her free time, she can be found meandering through a bookstore or writing short stories.
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If you do the math on the door lock replacement program the cost to taxpayers is $1833 per lock. Absolutely insane, but people voted for it!
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.