TS writes with a description of school design in Pittsburgh from 20 years ago, where the leading problem was abductions rather than shootings. However, these features would be a significant deterrent to stranger-initiated shootings, like the one yesterday in Pennsylvania, and the one last week in Colorado.

You walk into the building through large doors, one or two entrances. To the left or right is the office. There is no way to gain access to the building except through these two doors. You must then enter the office. Down the hall on both sides are large shatter proof bullet proof doors and the only way to get through them is to be buzzed in by the office staff.

Nobody walks the halls where the classrooms are except the students and teachers. Parents cannot come and go as they please, but the kids are safe. The back doors, which let out to the playground, could only open outward. You could not come in them unless a teacher unlocked it with a key, but fire safety was maintained since you can go out. No one was allowed to go out the doors without permission by the teacher.

The playgrounds were fenced in. The parents said they didn’t like it because they felt they should have access to the classrooms any time they wanted it.

We have to make some choices here and I think the students safety overrides the touchy parents. Also, the office had a panic button — a silent alarm that went straight to the police department. When pushed, the police came immediately.

Although we have made progress toward improved security design in Oak Ridge schools, we’re not at that level by any stretch of the imagination. Last year, we approved renovations to an elementary school that allows the office staff to see who enters the front doors — the only unlocked entrance. All the other elementary schools already have this feature.

The new high school, slated for completion in 2008, also features significant improvements in security via the building design. While these features are an improvement, they primarily address the problem of a potential intruder — not the potential of a student coming to school armed, as seems to be the more frequent scenario.

Under City Council’s strategic plan, Oak Ridge Schools are allowed only $600,000 annually for capital improvements — not even quite enough to cover the bare minimum of maintenance, including roof replacement, HVAC systems, flooring, and such. Last week, the Board approved replacing the gymnasium floor at Linden Elementary, funded through savings incurred in the parking lot work from last Summer, and a $10,000 donation.

Yes, essential maintenance was funded through the generosity of a donation. There’s something wrong with that.

Security is not a luxury item, but like everything else, must be budgeted. As we struggle to maintain existing academic programs that are our core mission, it is just one added factor in the competing priorities for increasingly inadequate dollars.