VOORHEESVILLE — The Voorheesville School District, which has one elementary school, installed a locked-door system last year with little fanfare.
"Twenty-to-one, when parents talk to me about it, they tell me how happy they are," said Ken Lein, the principal of Voorheesville Elementary School.

The decision was made by the district’s administrative team, he said, without involving the school board or site-based shared-decision-making teams.
"We thought it was within our job to keep our building safe," said Lein.

Guilderland, a neighboring school district, has had months of public board discussions about security at its five elementary schools. The board, which is deeply divided about locking the schools, plans to make a decision at its next meeting, Nov. 29.
Lein yesterday described for The Enterprise the security system used at his school. School employees have badges with their names and pictures. Four of the elementary-school entrances are equipped with readers.
"You swipe your badge at any one of those doors — just like at a gas station — and you’re in," he said.

For parents and the general public, there is one procedure for entering during school hours and another for hours when school is not in session.

Before 8:15 a.m. and after 4 p.m., the public uses a lower door, which is open. After- and before-school programs are on that level and parents come in and out, dropping off and picking up their children. Custodians are at work there, but there is no formal monitoring.
"That door is unlocked and you are in," said Lein. "Because we don’t have a school full of children, we don’t want to inconvenience people."

During school hours, however, people must come in through the main entrance, which is locked.
"A camera is built into the bell," said Lein, and there is a two-way communication system. "The security camera can see who’s there," he said.

The way the school is constructed, the office is not right near the front door. But a secretary in the main office looks at the person, via the camera, and talks to the person.
"We recognize 85 percent or more of the people and ask them to come to the office and sign in," said Lein.
"It used to happen, that people would come in and go where they wanted to go, without stopping in the office," said Lien. "This is more about stopping interruptions," he said, like a parent delivering a forgotten item to a classroom.
"And," Lein went on, "it gives us a better idea of who’s in the building. God forbid, there’s a tragedy. This isn’t going to stop that. Neither would a monitor at the front door."
He went on, "We keep it friendly and inviting. Visitors walk up through a lovely art gallery. It’s not hard for people to come see us."
Asked if checking on visitors was a burden for the school’s secretaries, Lein said, "Yes, it is. If money didn’t matter," he said, the district would hire someone to do that job, rather than adding it to secretarial duties.
Asked if the public accepted the system right away, in the fall of 2004 when it was implemented, Lein said, "It was tough in the beginning." He said the school newsletter, The Bugle, kept parents informed about the system.
"From reading your paper," Lein told The Enterprise, "I understand in Guilderland, they’re worried about changing the character of their schools...Our culture hasn’t changed. It’s still an inviting place. Plenty of parents are coming in this week for American Education Week."
Lein said his own children had started out in School 19 in Albany, which was always locked. "We always rang a bell," he said.
The family moved to Guilderland and the Lein children attended Westmere Elementary. "If I were asked to ring a bell," he said, "I would personally have felt they were trying to keep my children safe."

Lein did say, the Voorheesville system is deactivated when there’s an event, like a concert, that will attract a large number of visitors to the school.
"When 200 parents are coming to an event, we unlock the door," Lein said.
He concluded, "This is still a small community school and people are still welcome."