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What you need to know:
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Revere Public Schools (RPS) began the process of implementing FlipLok on classroom doors in the district’s public elementary, middle and high schools. The district decided to install the FlipLok to ensure the safety of their students and staff due to a recent increase in school shootings. The school district paid $200,000 for the installation.
FlipLok was created by founder Anna Reger and her husband John Reger. It was first prototyped in April 2019 and officially launched on Aug. 1, 2022. It was created to protect environments that are supposed to be safe, such as classrooms, homes and work offices. While FlipLok has different models of locks, RPS chose to use the red and six inch model, which have the words “FLIPLOK” and “CALL 911” painted each side. If a dangerous person is to enter school property, teachers can simply “flip” the lock and secure their classrooms. The installation of this lock is meant to avoid a possible traumatic situation, such as a school shooting, from occurring within the school.
Why it matters:
In the past months, the FBI has found that there have been some attempts by dangerous people to get into local schools, including schools of neighboring Massachusetts towns like Needham, Dedham, Woburn and Lowell. Furthermore across the country, there has been a significant increase in gun violence within schools. Since 1999, the number of school shootings has risen. In 2023, there were 346 casualties within educational environments. Since the start of this year, there have already been 43 K-12 school shooting casualties.
A large percentage of public schools are now equipping their classrooms with locks. There are also school drills implemented to inform students how to be safe in certain situations that could occur during school hours. With these precautions, schools hope to reduce reaction time in the event of an emergency. FlipLok has been reviewed and covered by several local news sites.
What are other sources to look at?
“‘Lifesaving locks’ installed in Massachusetts school as a proactive safety measure”– WCVB
“Revere schools upping school safety by installing new high tech security locks”- Boston 25 News
“Healey-Driscoll Administration Awards Nearly $3 million To Improve Public School Security”-Mass.gov
“Shooting Incidents at K-12 School” – CHDS School Shooting Safety Compendium
