CORRECTION: Ohio School Districts Split on Using ‘Bearacades’ on Doors

Two Ohio school districts are applying different interpretations to a state fire code to decide whether or not to use a new security device.

CORRECTION:

The manufacturer of Bearacade Door Control Systems has informed Campus Safety that Bearacade was inaccurately mentioned in this article. “The ruling issued in Columbus on February 23rd 2015 was 4-1 against The Bilco Company’s Barracuda Intruder Defense System and the Southwest Licking School District.,” Barricade said in a statement.

“Bearacade and National School Control Systems was not a party to the appeal or summoned to Columbus, have not been contacted in any way by the Board of Building Appeals, the Department of Commerce, or the State Fire Marshal’s office,” says Bill Cushwa, Founder and CEO, BEARACADE Door Control Systems. “Due to the similarity of brand names, we are experiencing ‘guilt by association’ and dismissal of our due diligence and exhaustive attention to code, other school safety concerns (fire, tornado, bullying, harassment, assault, etc.), and development of a barricading element that allows for quick reversal as circumstances might change.”

“It is not a violation to purchase, prepare to use, or store BEARACADE units,” says Dave Soulsby, President, BEARACADE Door Control Systems. “We have worked with our elected officials to provide a sense of clarity and common sense to the door barricading marketplace without jeopardizing safety or ignoring the importance of the Ohio Administrative Code, life safety codes, and the fire code. As the State Architect informed us in July 2013, we are not an operating mechanism or architectural component of the building or the door.  We are an aftermarket piece that is more effective and reliable than desks, chairs, and human shields.  BEARACADE can be deactivated in one motion and defaulted by administrators and safety forces from the ingress side of the door.”
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Two Ohio school district’s policies differ in the event of a lockdown because of a ruling by the state’s building department last month.

The department’s ruling found that any security device that can’t be unlocked and released through a door handle violates the Ohio fire code, according to newsnet5.com. Two Ohio school districts installed ‘Bearacades’ in their schools recently and now disagree on whether or not they should be used.

Bearacades are lockdown devices that attach to doors to keep them from opening. The Bearacades website says the security device is compliant with safety codes.

Now the Madison Local School District has instructed teachers not to use the devices in school drills, and to use their judgment in real scenarios. But the Mentor Public Schools district, just 20 miles south of Madison, still intends to use the device in an active shooter situation.

School and safety officials will be attending the building department’s April hearings to discuss classroom security devices and the fire code, and additional hearings are scheduled for June. Lawmakers have also drafted bills to clear the language so that the devices can be used in special situations.

Photo: mlsd.net

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