New Ohio school barricade rules concern disability group

REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio building standards board today gave final approval to rules allowing schools to deploy barricade devices in the event of an active shooter, but a disability rights group said they are not consistent with federal law ensuring equal access.

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that locks be usable by people with disabilities and doesn’t hold an exception for the devices, according to the Ohio Disability Rights Law and Policy Center.

That inconsistency may prevent some school employees from being able to use the devices and “has the potential to create an environment where they are discriminated against because of their inability to operate this device,” said Michael Kirkman, the center’s executive director.

The new rules overseeing the barricade devices take effect in 10 days.

Parents, school districts and device manufacturers lobbied lawmakers to allow the devices after school shootings, including the 2012 killing of three students in Chardon, in northeastern Ohio.