FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2014 / Jon D’Arpino
Communications Specialist
860-509-3663
Educational Safety and Security Mobile Showroom Visits CREC
(Hartford, CT) School security and the safety of children has always been an important topic, one that has taken on even greater significance in the wake many recent and tragic school shootings. One of the greatest challenges for schools throughout the state and across the nation has been to develop effective methods for quickly securing school building and classroom doors without turning schools into veritable fortresses.
· As part of CREC’s ongoing effort to improve safety and security for students, the ASSA ABLOY Education Solutions Mobile Showroom made a visit to CREC on June 19, 2014. The mobile showroom features a wide array of security technology options for school buildings, including classroom security locks and security sidelight doors for enhanced lockdown capabilities. The product innovations found in the ASSA ABLOY Education Solutions Mobile Showroom gives end users a full range of options that bring safety and security to any facility or campus.
“School security begins with the facility and door security is paramount in providing a secure school environment,” said Bill Peterman, sales consultant for Kelaher Associates Door Security Solutions, an ASSA ABLOY manufacturer’s representative group located in New Britain, Connecticut. “It’s much more effective to prevent someone who is intent on malice from easily entering a school building than to rely on security cameras to control a situation.”
A growing number of school buildings now have of a set of outer doors that leads to a vestibule with a screening point and a set of inner doors beyond which visitors can’t go unless they are vetted. CREC Director of Construction Services Doug Rogers noted that this added security feature was included in the design of the new buildings for the CREC Academy of Aerospace and Engineering and the CREC Discovery Academy. It has also been retrofitted into the CREC Reggio Magnet School of the Arts, the CREC Public Safety Academy, and the CREC International Magnet School for Global Citizenship and will be eventually retrofitted into every CREC school building.
CREC Director of Facilities Douglas Henley noted that Kelaher Associates Door Security Solutions has been working with CREC as service consultant, making security improvements to existing CREC facilities and helping to incorporate enhanced security features to new buildings. “Something as simple as a door that locks from the inside can make a significant impact on the safety of CREC students,” said Henley. “They [Kelaher Associates] are engaging people in the construction and facilities industries to get their feedback and design products that are durable and help ensure the safety of students.”
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The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966. Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region. CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 19 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC or CREC’s award-winning Magnet Schools is available at www.crec.org
Capitol Region Education Council www.crec.org