Chained up School Doors.

I've always been against schools putting chains on the doors. Even back when I was in high school when chains went up on out doors I didn't like it. Last week Samuell High School in Dallas violated fire codes and created a potential firetrap for students when it chained a school exit door last week, fire officials say.

But Samuell's action was not unusual.

When I was in high school ten years ago my high school chained up the doors due to a student from another school getting into our school and stabbing a student inside the hallway. Even at that time when the chains went up, I believed that it was wrong. Even in a whole different situation I still believed that school doors should'nt be chained. I screamed that security at the entries and the exits at our school should've have been beefed up. At the time we only had two police officers at our school.

Chaining schools has become "fairly common," as schools weigh security issues against fire safety concerns, said Kurt Harris, an administrator in the State Fire Marshal's office and past president of the Texas Fire Marshal's Association.

In fact, the practice of chaining school doors in both urban and regional schools in Texas "has gotten worse," as schools shootings and other incidents have heightened concerns about school safety, Harris said. The issue will be high on the agenda at the annual state fire marshal's conference in the fall, he said.

At Samuell, the issue came to a forefront last Thursday, when a fire started in the boys restroom, apparently from a still-buring cigarette thrown into the trash can. Smoke spread into the hallsways and student and staff were told to evacuate the building. But some students trying to get out ran into a chained door, which was later unlocked. There were no injuries at the school of about 2,000 students. This situation could've been a whole lot worse. What if it was a much bigger, and faster traveling fire. With the fire growing and moving at a faster rate, could have caused panic with the students and the staff. Taking time out to unlocked the chained doors could be crucial in a time like that.

Initial reports indicated that two doors were chained, but Samuell assistant principal Carl Johnson said Monday it was one door. That door, in the rear of the school, has been a security problem for Samuell. While the door is locked from the outside, students on the inside had opened it, in some cases allowing weapons into the school, Johnson said. Now this goes back to what I was saying earlier about the school just beefing up security at the exits and entrances at the school. If the school had good security, they would've have to worry about weapons being brought into the school.

The school had been chaining the doors and had a school monitor nearby to unlock the chains, said Johnson. On the day of the fire, the monitor left the door to get a fire extinguisher, Johnson said, so the chains were in place when students showed up. The chains has since been removed he said.

Dallas fire offcials make annual school inspections and respond to complaints about possible code violations , and said Anthony Jacobs, a fire prevention officer for the city. Still, enforcement can be challenging. While some fire officials make surprise inspections, Dallas fire inspectors usually schedule their inspections because of the volume of schools that are involved, Jacobs said. That means the school officials know when inspectors are coming and can remove the chains. "Chains on the doors- that is something that changes day by day. One week that may have chains on the door and one week they don't, he said.

If inspectors see chains on the door, it's one of the things we take very seriously," Jacobs said.

A fine for a violation involving chained doors can vary from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on the type of building inspected, the circumstances and the discretion of the judge in the case, said Jacobs. I think fines should be doubled in this situation. When the chains went up in our school, alot of the students felt closed in or locked up. Many of the parents complained deeply about the chains. After about six weeks and after all of the complaints, the chains were taked off of the doors.

An inspector has to see a violation to issue a code violation ticket. While firefighters responded to the school fire last week, there were no indication that an inspector went to the scene and issued a ticket, according to the fire prevention office.

I've heard both sides of the arguement about chains on school doors. I've heard arguements for it due to making the school more safe and keeping people that don't belong out. At the end of the day my heart is still stuck on keeping chains completely off. The situation at Samuell High School could've been alot worse then what happened. If the fire would've been worse and students running out with no one to take the chains off, we would be talking about what a tragedy it was instead of just another story.