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In the months following the June 2014 shooting death of freshman Emilio Hoffman, Reynolds School District officials took a long look at how they could improve security at their schools. Hoffman was shot and killed by a fellow student armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in the boys’ locker room of the gymnasium at Reynolds High School in Troutdale.

Shootings across the nation at campuses such as Columbine High School in Colorado and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut have occurred at an alarming rate in the past few decades. These days, existing schools are receiving security improvements and new schools are being built with security in mind. This includes limited access points, automatic locking doors, video cameras, card access and much more. And that impetus to do more grows with each mass shooting.

鈥淧robably since Columbine we’ve been dealing with it,鈥� said architect Karina Ruiz, a principal with Portland’s BRIC Architecture, which designed improvements at Reynolds High School as part of a project led by Bremik Construction.

鈥淚t ebbs and flows in terms of districts having heightened concerns about it,鈥� Ruiz said. 鈥淐ertainly after Sandy Hook there was a considerable amount of work invested at the national and local levels developing guidelines dealing with CPTED (crime prevention though environmental design).鈥�

These days, Reynolds School District officials decline to speak publicly about the latest measures being adopted into existing schools as well as the three elementary schools being rebuilt via a $125 million bond measure passed by voters.

鈥淲ith our successful bond in 2015, we have been able to incorporate secure vestibules and upgraded security both inside and outside of all the existing and new schools within our district,鈥� said Stephanie Field, a public information officer for the district. 鈥淲e take the safety and security of our students, families and staff very seriously, and would not want to compromise that security with information published regarding the safety features within and around the schools.鈥�

Information available publicly suggests Reynolds is taking steps similar to those being taken by other districts around the country. Up to two-thirds of all schools now employ active shooter drills, according to a 2017 Government Accountability Office study, and virtually all districts at least have a plan for such scenarios.

In Oregon, none of this is unfamiliar. Paul Odenthal, executive administrator for facilities with the Beaverton School District, said its $680 million bond measure approved by voters in 2014 included $10 million dedicated to security improvements. Despite every school in the district gaining upgrades, he added, more work is needed.

鈥�$10 million is probably not enough today,鈥� Odenthal said. 鈥淚n 2014 it was an unknown of what we wanted to achieve with the bond other than we knew we needed to do something about security.鈥�

Other local districts currently embarking on construction programs funded by bond money include Gresham-Barlow, Hillsboro, Portland Public Schools and Evergreen in Vancouver, Washington, among others. All include at least some dedicated funding for safety and security measures.

Nonetheless, each of the Beaverton district’s 54 schools, both new and existing facilities, is getting a security overall. These will include single-point entries at elementary and middle schools, as well as double vestibules that place visitors on camera and require staff to buzz them inside through locked doors. High schools, with more points of entry, and larger campuses can prove more challenging to secure.

Ruiz agreed, and said recent school designs at all levels have embraced unobtrusive features such as clearing lines of sight from a school office to parking lots, single points of entrance, target hardening and passive supervision through interior use of transparent windows and surfaces. It’s a compromise between providing enough security and maintaining the feel of a traditional school, she said.

鈥淚t has to balance,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e certainly don’t want our campuses (to) feel like prisons, and we can’t let fear dictate design. But you do need to address it; you need to create spaces that are warm and welcoming and really look at creating spaces that balance the need for safety and security.鈥�

Voters in 2017 approved a $185 million Portland Community College bond measure that will pay for work at four campuses in the city. Linda Degman, director of PCC‘s bond program, noted that enhanced security and safety features have been a fact of life for years.

A decade ago, a system of mass notification for emergency events was installed at each campus for staff and students. This included speakers, indoor and outdoor, hooked up to the central fire alarms system, allowing notifications to be sent out from a central dispatch office at the Sylvania campus.

In addition, card-controlled access doors were installed across the college’s campuses, while perimeter doors were given remote-controlled locks, allowing public safety staff to lock down entire buildings with the touch of a central button.

鈥淪o, if there’s an incident at (the) Southeast (campus) they can push a button and lock down the perimeter doors,鈥� Degman said. 鈥淚f there’s some sort of imminent threat they can lock down the doors instantly.鈥�

Further, a series of classroom or office-based panic buttons have been installed at the four campuses, she added.

One big difference between college buildings and K-12 buildings comes with their end uses. Colleges typically are more widely used by the public and require a greater level of access, limiting the use of certain measures employed at smaller elementary and middle schools.

鈥淲e’re a college campus, and there’s always that dynamic,鈥� Degman said. 鈥淚t’s a little more challenging for us in that we have lots of community members coming in, lots of students coming in and lots of visitors. So the question is: How do we have it open and accessible as well as providing the safety we need?鈥�

In the past, it’s been a 鈥渉uge issue,鈥� Degman said.

鈥淪o, as we’re designing new buildings we limit those accesses down to as minimal as we can get away with, maybe three or four as opposed to 10 or 12,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e’re not like an elementary school or a K-12 to where we have one point of access. That would not be amenable to the use of our buildings and the use of our facilities, so we need to put other security measures in place.鈥�

The Gresham-Barlow School District has been having the same conversation since voters approved a $291 million capital bond measure in November 2016. Of that amount, $13 million is earmarked for security upgrades, and every school in the district will receive some sort of improvement. Two elementary schools, East and North Gresham, are gaining state-of-the-art facilities that will feature new closed circuit television systems, enhanced radio communications between school staff and bus drivers, internally locking doors, bollards to limit vehicle traffic around school entrances, and revamped entrances that limit public access.

Similar measures also being pursued by Portland Public Schools, which is spending $790 million in bond money approved by voters in May 2017.

Regardless of the measures taken, administrators, designers and builders still strive to create an environment that emulates what students are already used to.

鈥淲e want our campuses to be secure,鈥� Odenthal said. 鈥淏ut by the same point, we don’t want to have them feel or appear like a prison.鈥�

Ruiz said that despite the unpleasant nature of the topic, the only solution is to plow forward and find better answers.

鈥淚t’s disgusting that we have to have these conversations,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s sad, and certainly it requires a comprehensive solution; it’s not just about school design or about gun control or about access to mental health services. It’s all of that, and those are the conversations we’re having with our clients.鈥�