LAKEWOOD, Co. — Jeffco Public Schools is in the process of increasing safety at district schools with new locks and a new communications system.
They have upgraded to a mass notification system that can send out alerts all at once to students, administrators, parents and law enforcement.
They also are in the process of changing the locks in the classrooms of 92 elementary schools so that the doors lock from the inside with the push of a button. School security says the old locks take too much time and put teachers in danger.
"We need locks that can lock inside the classroom, that don't force teachers to come out into a hallway and be a target in a lockdown environment," said John McDonald, executive director of security and emergency management for Jeffco Public Schools.
The upgrades are funded with a $714,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
