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Schools To Install Security Vestibules

Sep 09, 2015 11:51AM ● By Bryan Scott

By Julie Slama

When East Sandy Elementary Principal Kenna Sorensen worked at Draper Elementary, parents needed to check in to the school office to receive a visitor’s pass before being buzzed past a security door into the rest of the building to volunteer.

This school year, Canyons School District will be installing security-door vestibules in 14 of its 29 elementary schools. Work will begin this October on the first nine projects, including Sandy’s Bell View, Crescent, East Sandy, Edgemont, Peruvian Park, Quail Hollow and Willow Canyon Elementaries.

“I’m excited that not only will it make the teachers and staff be secure, but also the students will feel safer in the school,” Sorensen said, who added that it is part of the school district’s priority in making schools safe. “I’ve had a concern at East Sandy with how to secure two main hallways at once, and this will be a help. At Draper, once parents realized that the slight inconvenience was for students’ safety, there was very little concern about it.”

In spring 2016, construction of the security vestibules will begin at more schools, including Sandy’s Altara, Lone Peak and Sprucewood Elementaries. These security entrances, scheduled for a December 2016 completion, were fast-tracked by the Board of Education last March.

The $1.5 million project, paid for with the district’s capital facilities budget, ensures the placement of security vestibules in all 29 elementary schools, Canyons School District spokesman Jeff Haney said. 

Security vestibules are already installed in 13 elementary schools, and the remaining two elementaries, including Alta View, will have security vestibules when those buildings are rebuilt. The new Alta View Elementary, which will be the last school to install a security vestibule, is scheduled to open in fall 2017