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Canyons School District Focuses on Safety With Security-Door Vestibule Installation

Oct 07, 2015 02:21PM ● By Bryan Scott

Visitors to Canyons School District elementary schools will be guided directly into the main office of each school before they are allowed access to the school. Photo courtesy of Canyons School District

By Lauren Casper

The Canyons School District Board of Education has approved a project for the installation of security-door vestibules at the main entrance of all 29 of its elementary schools. Construction and installation has already begun, and is scheduled to be completed by December 2016. The project is estimated to cost $1.5 million. In Cottonwood Heights, work is scheduled to begin in October at both Canyon View and Bella Vista Elementary.

The vestibules are a set of glass doors installed adjacent to the main office, which will direct guests into the office. Visitors to the school enter through the main doors where the security doors then prohibit them from proceeding into the school before first signing in. Visitors must sign in with the secretary and receive a visitor’s badge. The secretary has a buzzer under her desk that is then used to unlock the security doors. Each door is equipped with a card reader, which employees can use to gain access to and from the school and the main office.

Kevin Ray, risk management coordinator for Canyons School District, is excited about this project. “Safety for students and employees is always on my mind. Increasing security has been something I have wanted to do for some time,” Ray said. 

Events that have happened around the country have caused parents and other community members concern, and the district has received requests to tighten security and provide the protection students need.

The new doors will “act as good deterrents in custody battles or other situations where students would possibly be taken from the school by someone who is not authorized to do so,” Ray said. “They will provide better control over who has access to the school, since nobody can get past the main office without checking in.”

Principal BJ Weller at Canyon View Elementary is looking forward to having the new doors in his school. “I’m excited to have those installed. I want to make sure the kids are safe. I think whatever we can do, we should do. This is something the community has asked for, and I’m glad the district is responding,” Weller said.

Security doors are a welcome addition to elementary schools in the district. “The Board has given us the green light and the budget to do this. It’s the right thing to do. I’m really passionate about protecting the students as much as we can, and this is something we can do,” Ray said.