Visual Indication Trims Solve Security Challenges in Retrofits

Recent survey data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicates the average age of a school is 49 years old—with more than 59 percent of main instructional buildings having been built before 2000. Given that best practices for safer school design have dramatically changed over the last 24 years, a school may not have the security measures recommended in sources like the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) K-12 guidelines, Allegion’s School Security Best Practices for Openings and other similar resources.

As school administrators work with building professionals to renovate and repair existing facilities, improving the level of safety and security on campus might be within the project’s scope. If this is the case, specifying locks with visual indication trims that display a door’s “locked/unlocked” status in key areas of the built environment can be a cost-effective way of enhancing school safety and security. This is especially true when visual indication trims are backwards compatible to existing locks.

How do visual indication trims meet best-practice recommendations?

Properly specified locking hardware can be essential to school security. In fact, expert testimony within the Final Report of the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission indicates that an active shooter has never breached a locked door. For this reason, PASS K-12 recommends the use of locking hardware to fulfill the first tier of access control at both the building and classroom perimeter layers.

That said, it is important that the locking hardware meets functionality recommendations as indicated in several advisory commission reports, which have been compiled into a single document from Allegion. In addition to meeting functionality recommendations, locks with visual indication trims, like options from Schlage, offer peace of mind by displaying a door’s status as “locked/unlocked.” As such, they help projects achieve upper tier recommendations from PASS.

In addition to 180-degree visibility and unmistakable red and white messaging, Schlage’s visual indication trims have the largest indication windows currently on the market for their respective lock types. These award-winning products can support lockdown protocols by improving the ability of those within the room to assess the door’s status without having to approach the door or test its handle—a key to sidelining common issues that occur due to the chaotic nature of lockdowns. 

Karah P., a 4th grade teacher at Candace A. French Elementary School in Colorado, an early test site for the new indicator locks from Schlage, states, “The Schlage ND Indicator lock has come in handy during lockdown drills/hold drills as I am able to quickly be sure that my room is secured without having to open the door to double check.”

Backwards compatible trims support cost-efficient school security upgrades

Because classroom door locking functions tend to repeat throughout the built environment, retrofitting existing locks with visual indication trims can present an opportunity for building professionals to streamline installation and standardize operation. This can drive cost-efficiency and shorten the path to achieving a security solution that is more prepared for lockdowns, which can offer both physical and emotional peace of mind for students and faculty.

To that end, L Series and ND Series visual indication trims from Schlage are backwards compatible to many commonly used classroom functions of these Grade 1 mortise and cylindrical locks. For specifiers and project owners, this can reduce costs associated with updating and installing hardware, which may allow other improvements to school safety and security depending on a project’s scope.

For faculty and students, this compatibility supports familiar lock operation while also providing award-winning security improvements. The addition of visual “locked/unlocked” status indication on familiar hardware can provide certainty in emergency situations, which helps students and faculty know a door is, in fact, locked.

Doors and locking hardware are essential to safer school design. When a school is undergoing a renovation that focuses on enhancing campus security, visual indication trims can be a viable solution since they meet recognized best practice recommendations.