New locks at PHS allow doors to be locked from inside classrooms

Emma Nitschke
eSomethin staff

Imagine a one-inch piece of wood as the safety net between life and death.

In December of 2022, Perrysburg High School installed new locks on classroom doors so they will lock from both the inside and outside. This is a step toward making Perrysburg High School safer. In the event of a crisis, staff can lock students and themselves in to classrooms.

The re-keying took place in two waves: one last summer, and one over winter break. Prior to the new locks being installed, teachers would have to go outside of their classrooms in order to lock the doors. Now, they can lock it from the inside without exposing themselves or students to any danger.

The building’s exterior doors automatically lock at the start of school, there are audiovisual cameras installed in the hallways around the school, and resource officer Greg Cole is available if anything were to happen.

Teachers are trained for safety protocols as well.

“We just have to make sure we’re prepared as best as we can be” said Aaron Cookson, the principal.

Cookson said that last school year, a third-party came to the district and did a safety evaluation of our buildings. They spent several days in the district and went around to the different elementaries, HPI, the junior high, and the high school, observing what was going on from a safety perspective. Re-keying the school became a top priority based on those findings.

Cookson said there were several advantages to upgrading the locks: obviously, locks wear out over time, and the old locks were very old. The school also used new locks as an opportunity to keep track of keys in a more organized system than before.

“I think our school is pretty safe and I don’t really feel like anything bad would happen; especially since we have, like, security cameras and we don’t live in a bad area,” said Lily Forrester, a junior at PHS.

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