Security vestibules coming to 3 FCPS elementary schools
Jun. 13—Three Frederick County elementary schools are getting security vestibules this summer.
The Frederick County Board of Education last week voted unanimously to approve contracts for the construction of vestibules at Lewistown, Liberty and Woodsboro elementary schools. The work is expected to be complete by early August.
Vestibules create a double-door system, requiring school visitors to buzz into a small lobby that has access to only the main office. School staff then check ID before granting a visitor access to the rest of the building.
Frederick County Public Schools has been working for years to get vestibules installed at all 68 of its schools, Chief Operating Officer Paul Lebo wrote in an email to the News-Post. After the projects at Lewistown, Liberty and Woodsboro are complete, three FCPS schools will remain without vestibules.
The projects are funded through grants from the state's School Safety Grant Program. The three ongoing vestibule projects are slated to cost about $288,000.
The district's security team coordinates with school staff and tries to make the vestibule entrances work well with the existing flow of the building, Scott Blundell, FCPS' security and emergency management supervisor, at last week's work session.
Sometimes, the layout of a school means staff will have to badge in more than once on their way into work each morning, Blundell and board members said.
"It's sort of a nuisance," board member Jay Mason said, "but it keeps our schools safer."
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