Alabama Schools Facing Chronic Safety Issues, Fire Marshal Says

A school bus is seen during a safety event for children at Trailside Middle School, in Ashburn, Va., on Aug. 25, 2015. Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

A recent meeting of Alabama’s School Safety Advisory Commission revealed an alarming neglect of basic security and safety systems within the state’s public school system.

During the meeting held Tuesday, November 28, concerns were raised about the state of safety and security systems in all of Alabama’s public schools. The advisory board convened to address these issues and identify gaps in school safety, with the aim of shaping legislation in the upcoming 2024 legislative session.

The commission, initially established in 2016 but dormant for years, according to Alabama Daily News, was revived earlier this year by House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter. Previous meetings of the commission have primarily focused on addressing trauma among students and school faculty.

Neglected Maintenance of Critical Systems

State Fire Marshal Scott Pilgreen raised the concerns in the meeting, saying he was tired of seeing the same issues over and over again. These critical systems, including door locks, fire alarms, and PA systems, were found to be inadequately maintained, putting students and staff at risk, he told the panel.

Mr. Pilgreen emphasized that a majority of schools fail to maintain these systems as required by minimum building fire codes. Pilgreen, who oversees routine checks in Alabama’s more than 1,400 public schools, revealed recurring violations, such as hardware on exterior doors in disrepair, often replaced with chains and padlocks.

“All of the systems that are there as required by our minimum building fire codes, quite frankly, are not maintained in the vast majority of our schools,” he said. “I’m not exaggerating; we see it.”

Many schools have been placed on a “fire watch” due to non-functioning safety systems, adding further strain to already limited resources, he said. A fire watch requires school staff to patrol campuses in place of compromised security and safety systems.

A school group walks the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on May 15. Julie Bennett/Getty Images

“You talk to the leadership of the school, and you get a mixed bag; some of them are extremely apologetic and want to get on it quickly to get it fixed, while a lot say ‘we don’t have the money,’ and they want to point to the superintendent’s office,” Mr. Pilgreen continued to explain.

He added the importance of maintaining the basics, as many school shooting incidents are perpetrated by bad actors who have a connection to the school or are former students and are thus aware of the weak points.

Financial Constraints and Fire Watches

Mr. Pilgreen said school administrators frequently cited financial constraints as a barrier to addressing these safety issues.

“In the past two months, in numerous school systems ranging from north Alabama to extreme south Alabama, we have put a number of schools on what we call a fire watch because their systems are down, and have been down. It’s a problem.”

Pilgreen explained that schools being placed on a fire watch could further tax schools’ already-stretched resources, as the order requires some school staff to patrol the school campus as a substitute for compromised security and safety systems.

“Quite frankly, I’m tired of my people going in and finding this problem reoccurring over and over again, because that’s what’s going to get our students and our staff in these schools in harm’s way quicker than anything,” he said.

Enforcement Mechanisms Needed

Sheriff’s office sergeant and school resource officer Pamela Revels, also a member of the board, highlighted the lack of enforcement mechanisms to compel schools to address faulty security and safety systems. She stressed the importance of leadership buy-in and suggested the need for more stringent measures to ensure compliance.

“I think from our perspective, we need a little bit more teeth if we find something that needs to be corrected,” Revels said. “We’re doing the monitoring, we’re doing the walkthroughs, but if you say something needs to be fixed, and there’s nothing that makes them fix it, it’s going to stay broken.”

Another member of the group highlighted a Tennessee law passed during a special session on school safety earlier this year as a way to add “teeth” to their own school safety rules.

“The fine system that Tennessee is doing, I see that as at least a form of teeth, and I also find school systems to be compliant motivated; if they’re not safety motivated, they are compliant motivated,” said Commission Chair Republican State Rep. Terri Collins.

Mr. Pilgreen said when drafting a report they will hand over to the state legislature, they need to put the issue of holding staff accountable in there.

“Whatever this commission ultimately reports back to the Speaker, we need to have something in there that draws attention to this issue, because unless we fix the fundamental stuff and we maintain the fundamental stuff that’s already there,” he said, before continuing. “I’m telling you you can put all the technology in the school building regardless of how new or how old it is, and it will not be maintained if we don’t have something to hold the people who manage those schools and our school systems accountable.”

Although no deadline has been set for the report, Mr. Pilgreen stressed the importance of addressing the widespread safety failings documented by his office.