Chaffee School District to use school safety grant money to install keyless locks at entrances

CHAFFEE, Mo. (KBSI) – In the coming months, the keylocks at the entrances of Chaffee schools will become a thing of the past.

That is because they are being replaced with more secure keyless locks. 

Superintendent of Schools Shawn Nix said the new safety measures will make a significant impact in improving the safety of everyone in the building. 

“In previous schools that I’ve worked at, we’ve had either a card or key fob system, and it was very, very efficient and reliable,” he said.

Nix described what stands out to him about the technology. 

“The best thing, I think, about it is you can limit access, so if you need to give a person access for two days, they can have access for what they need to get in to do, and then you can turn it off,” he said.

Morgan Swinford graduated from Chaffee High School and has been teaching there for 15 years. 

“These days are different than it was 15 years ago, I mean, you didn’t have to worry about what you have to now,” she said. “You didn’t have to worry about someone coming in that shouldn’t. I mean, it’s just the stuff these days, it’s just so much different.” 

The funds for this project come from Missouri’s school safety grant program, which is targeted at rural school districts like Chaffee.

Swinford, who also has a son in the district, said this new technology is a positive for everyone involved. 

“Being a small school, I am excited about the measures we’re taking to keep our kids safe, the teachers safe, because these days, again, you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”