Current Events > Alabama School implements deployable ballistic shelters for classrooms

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/GillianBNews/status/1635397817526267904?

https://www.wbrc.com/app/2023/03/13/new-safe-room-system-cullman-protect-students-staff-case-active-shooter-emergency/

CULLMAN, Ala. (WBRC) - Kevin Thomas is the Founder and CEO of KT Security Solutions. Last year, his team was creating ballistic shelters for the military. Following the events in Uvalde, Texas, he shifted his ideas on how to better protect students and teachers from an active shooter emergency.

He came up with the Rapid-Deploy Safe Room System. It is a fold-out room that can expand in less than 10 seconds. It provides a ballistic shield in case of an active shooter, or serve as an emergency shelter during severe weather.

Our goal here is to give every kid an opportunity to go home in the evening, said Thomas. This is not going to fix the issues that cause these things. But its going to give us a protective way to go until we figure that out as a community and as a nation.

Thomas took his idea to State Senator, Garlan Gudger, who introduced him to Cullman City Schools Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff. Thats when the pilot for the system began in West Elementary.

In the unimaginable thought or action of a shooter, this is a safe place for the students or the teacher to get in, said Kallhoff.

Two classrooms currently have the Rapid-Deploy Safe Room System set up. Its a floor-to-ceiling whiteboard pressed up against the wall when not in use. When expanded, it locks from the inside and can only be unlocked with a key.
The two in Cullman are the first of their kind. Thomas, Kalloff, and many other local and state leaders hope to see the installation of these rooms across the country one day to better protect teachers and students.

Dystopian af

as a teacher, I honestly do see this as practical for a safety shelter in the case of an emergency. It could also be a breakout room, a time-out room, storage, and it's a giant white board which I appreciate as a teacher.

But it is not a replacement for actual solutions for gun violence. It's also obviously going to be expensive to implement on any large scale, so you bet that rich schools would get them and poor schools will continue to be the nourishment for our dystopic late capitalist society.

ZMythos posted...

Kevin Thomas is the Founder and CEO of KT Security Solutions. Last year, his team was creating ballistic shelters for the military. Following the events in Uvalde, Texas, he shifted his ideas on how to better protect students and teachers from an active shooter emergency.

Fucking ghoul.

ZMythos posted...

as a teacher, I honestly do see this as practical for a safety shelter in the case of an emergency. It could also be a breakout room, a time-out room, storage, and it's a giant white board which I appreciate as a teacher.

But it is not a replacement for actual solutions for gun violence. It's also obviously going to be expensive to implement on any large scale, so you bet that rich schools would get them and poor schools will continue to be the nourishment for our dystopic late capitalist society.

A much cheaper solution for now would be those door reinforcement kits that give the doors full length hinges, stronger frames kick plates and a peg that goes into the floor on top of the lock.

It seems like that would be enough to deter any shooter trying to get into a classroom.

Why not give the teachers firearms...

/s

ThisIsAKnoife posted...

Dystopian af

Okay? Schools can't go and make owning guns illegal or make them harder to get a hold of unfortunately. I'm happy to see schools do what is within their power to protect kids from being shot to death at school. We need to get lawmakers to actually address the gun issues.

If it functions well as a safe place for severe weather than that's actually a good enough reason to implement this tbh. I'm not sure about active shooter though

Imagine someone bringing explosives in with all the kids in those things. They'd be sitting ducks

Flauros posted...

A much cheaper solution for now would be those door reinforcement kits that give the doors full length hinges, stronger frames kick plates and a peg that goes into the floor on top of the lock.

It seems like that would be enough to deter any shooter trying to get into a classroom.

Yeah making it harder to enter the room to begin with is good too. My kid is on the first floor and has windows running the length of his room so technically could get in through there

A much better solution is to ask people nicely to stop owning guns.

Looks expensive

Better than man traps or whatever scheme they were cooking up when Uvalde happened

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Yeah making it harder to enter the room to begin with is good too. My kid is on the first floor and has windows running the length of his room so technically could get in through there

The windows would be the tricky part. They already have those windows that can only open a few inches AND come with locks so you cant even open them from the outside. But you need emergency exit windows in case of fire or other big issues.

Honestly that is pretty cool.

the ceiling tiles can be moved allowing the shooter access to the people inside i think. i remember ppl throwing pencils like darts into them so its not hard to move them or break them lol.

but maybe the shooters cba to do that and will just move onto the next room idk

Ratchetrockon posted...

the ceiling tiles can be moved allowing the shooter access to the people inside i think. i remember ppl throwing pencils like darts into them so its not hard to move them or break them lol.

but maybe the shooters cba to do that and will just move onto the next room idk

Unless that shooter had 1 target on their list, they are not gonna take the time to build a staircase of desks and shit to get up to the ceiling tiles <_<

If you use enough band-aids a severed limb will reattach itself, right?

States should pay for these in every classroom out of the fund used to pay for the police. Don't make the schools pay for it, they're underfunded as it is.

A_Good_Boy posted...

States should pay for these in every classroom out of the fund used to pay for the police. Don't make the schools pay for it, they're underfunded as it is.

Better yet, have the NRA and gun manufacturers pay for them.