A View from the IU

Frustrated with your staff leaving doors unlocked?  Wondering how to easily secure faculty rooms and work rooms that are traditionally left unlocked all day long?  Tired of being the "lock cop" as you patrol the halls and try to enforce this simple requirement?  Here are two great affordable solutions.

1.  Switch to a storage room lock for classrooms. Many classroom doors allow the staff to turn the key in two directions, one direction leaves the lock unlocked all the time and the other direction allows the door to be unlocked to enter the room but it remains locked once they remove the key.  Intentionally or unintentionally many staff members turn the key to the unlocked position, placing them and their students in harms way should violence occur inside the school.  The simple solution is to install a storage room or utility room lock.  These locks ONLY offer a single direction to turn the key and as soon as the key is removed the door ALWAYS remains locked .  This is ideal when your school practices "all doors locked all the time" or "prop and lock" procedures.  Talk to your local locksmith about making this simple change.  This lock is also ideal for large group space that is often left unlocked; leaving schools with the huge liability of undesirable or criminal activity occurring in unoccupied spaces within the school.   

2.  Install a combination lock. Faculty and work rooms seem to always be unlocked.  The downside is we tend to store large scissors, knives and other items that could be used as weapons.  In addition should a violence occur inside the school  the rooms don't offer secure shelter if the doors are unlocked. The simple solution is the installation of a push button combination lock on those doors that is shared with all staff.   This is a very affordable and easy solution to a long term problem in schools.