Long Beach, California – With help from VectorUSA, The Long Beach Unified School District introduced a program piloting electronic door locks at schools this month, furthering its commitment to student safety.
Electronic locks will be installed on classroom doors and entries to essential, high-use spaces at four pilot sites: Bixby Elementary, Jefferson Middle School, Muir K-8 and Robinson K-8.
With the locks in place, pilot schools can lock down within seconds, preventing unwanted campus access in emergency situations. The pilot will guide the rollout of electronic door locks at schools across the district.
LBUSD schools employ a traditional lock and key system that requires manual locking of all doors. When emergencies arise that trigger a lockdown, teachers must rush to classroom doors to secure them by hand.
The new electronic door locks are powered by an online access control system that can track entrances and exits, and when a door is left unlocked. District staff can secure specific doors, buildings, or the whole school in a few mouse clicks. A single flip of a switch will lock down an entire campus.
Doors equipped with electronic locks will open with access cards that double as identification badges. Entry credentials are stored on the cards, ensuring teachers and administrators have access to classrooms and offices in a network outage. Cards can be programmed to open doors during specified hours, and doors can be scheduled to lock automatically at designated times.
Bixby and Muir will benefit from electronic locks starting in the 2021-22 school year; remaining pilot schools will be completed by next fall.
The new locks enhance school safety and complement existing campus safeguards, including security cameras and an electronic visitor screening system that funnels all guests into a single entry point. Installation of a modern phone system that integrates with the district's emergency notifications will also begin this month.
The electronic door lock pilot, budgeted at $2.2 million, is funded by Measure K.
