Monday, April 25, 2016
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A decision this month by the Ohio building standards board allows Ohio schools to deploy barricade devices to protect students and staff from active shooters.
It means the Trumbull Career and Technical Center in Champion can take out of storage the Bolo Sticks it bought over a year ago from Howland police officer Bill Barna, who invented the device.
A Bolo Stick is a steel rod that slides into a mount in the floor to stop the door from being opened.
The Bolo Stick is one of several barricade devices that came to market after school shootings at Chardon High School, Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut and Virginia Tech University.
Ohio is among a handful of states that updated their fire or building codes to allow the devices to be used. Critics have said the devices could have unintended consequences, such as blocking safety officers from reaching victims.
A “white paper” written by the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools pointed out that such devices could be used by a student from inside the classroom to victimize classmates and keep first-responders from getting inside to stop it.
TCTC Superintendent Jason Gray said he acknowledges that the device can be used for harm rather than good, which is the reason training of teachers and substitute teachers on procedures is important.
“It goes down to training. It shouldn’t be available to anyone but the adult in the classroom,” he said.
Substititute teachers receive training on the device at the start of each school year, he said.
Gray said several manufacturers sent him devices to try, and the Bolo Stick was the simplest and easiest to use.
“It lines up in literally half a second. It takes one movement to drop, one movement to pick up,” he said. “What you are looking for in these situations is time. Every minute that you can stop that intruder, you’re saving lives.”
In addition to TCTC, Barna has also sold Bolo Sticks to the Niles, Newton Falls and Lordstown school systems. Bolo Sticks also can be used in homes, Barna said.
Mike Sliwinski, Trumbull County’s chief building inspector, sent Barna a letter April 14 saying the Bolo Stick and other barricade devices are legal in Ohio schools starting April 18 as long as the school follows several requirements related to training of school personnel and use only during emergencies and drills.
“I am a proponent for them, but I understand why there is opposition,” Sliwinski said of barricade devices. “They have to be used in the proper manner.”
“Bill [Barna] has got the market because it’s simple. Drop in the pin and pull it out,” Sliwinski said. “Anybody can do it. The purpose is to protect the children.”
A Bolo Stick You Tube video produced by the students at TCTC is available at https://youtu.be/akLetKSy7kU.