After visit to Stoneman Douglas, school leader pleads with teachers to lock classroom doors
Following a trip to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that he called "horrific," Palm Beach County School Board Chair Frank Barbieri admonished local teachers for leaving classroom doors unlocked and propped open during the school day.
He said that such a simple act could lead to tragedy.
Barbieri's comments came unannounced at Wednesday's school board meeting. He shared that on Saturday, he and Superintendent Mike Burke toured the Broward County school where 17 people were murdered on Feb. 14, 2018, in a mass shooting carried out by a former student.
The shooter pleaded guilty in 2021 and the judge sentenced him to life in prison last year. The jury recommended not imposing the death penalty.
Barbieri said he and Burke were invited to tour the school with Max Schachter, the parent of Alex Schachter, who died when the shooter got into his English classroom and began shooting. The scene had been preserved for tours by the jury and media during the shooter's trial and sentencing, and demolition was delayed by landfill disposal regulations. Barbieri said he and Burke toured the school to assess how Palm Beach County schools can be safer.
But Barbieri said Wednesday that he wished he had never stepped foot in the school.
"I was touring it because Mr. Schachter invited us and thought that perhaps we'd see something in that school that would help us with security in our own schools," he said. "I wish I wouldn't have gone. I've had nightmares since that day on Saturday."
Barbieri described seeing bullet holes and blood splatter in the building. He said it was "exactly the way that it was on the day that those children were murdered."
"I've never seen anything as horrific as that. I don't think I'll ever forget about it," he said.
The 1200 building where the shooting took place will be demolished next summer.
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Barbieri's comments about Stoneman Douglas brought abrupt silence to the school board chambers, where audience members usually have quiet side conversations and school board members shift in their seats or consult their computers.
Barbieri quickly pivoted to address Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association President Gordon Longhofer, who was in the audience, to say that local teachers need to keep their doors closed and locked for safety.
"Every week, I hear from the (inspector general) that there are doors unlocked in our schools," he said. "You need to tell the teachers to get their act together, because if that shooter got into those schools, he would just open the door and kill all the kids in the room."
Barbieri said Cruz was able to shoot students through the windows on locked doors at Stoneman Douglas.
"If the teachers had their door open, he could (have) walked into the classroom and slaughtered everybody," Barbieri said.
School board policy in Palm Beach County requires that classroom doors be "closed and locked during class and will not be left propped or standing open, except during class change." The board approved the new policy in January.
The Palm Beach Post contacted the Inspector General's Office on Thursday for details on the number of incidents of unlocked or propped open doors but hadn't heard back yet.
Barbieri said he supports disciplining teachers who break the policy because students' lives are immediately at risk.
"Enough. Tell the teachers to lock their doors," he said.
This story will be updated.
Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: After Parkland visit, school leader rebukes teachers on unlocked doors
