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Bronaugh R-7 updates, secures school entrance after Peerless "door-nation"
A project three years in the making fast-tracked to near completion Thursday at Bronaugh R-7 — and, going forward, students there should feel much safer because of it.
Thanks to a donation by Peerless Products and the hard work of some community members, a new set of secure double-doors now greet all visitors to the main entrance of the school. The lock system and camera installation will take a few extra days, but all should be ready when students and staff return to classrooms later this month.
“We want to make sure all of our students and parents feel secure. Until now, anyone had clear access to the hallway. We wanted to lock it down and make contact with everybody before they were already inside,” said superintendent Jordan Dickey, who added that the Bronaugh R-7 Board of Education had discussed the need for an updated entrance for the past few years, but just was not in a place where it was ready to make those improvements on its own.
So, board member Dennis Bowling struck up the conversation with Peerless last school year and quickly secured the “door-nation” — but the decision was made to wait and install them until late this summer after other maintenance work at the school, such as repainting the hallway, was complete.
With the paint dry by midweek, Bowling and his partner at Houk Construction, John Houk, as well as fellow school board member David Diggins and an employee from Peerless, got to work on Thursday setting up the new entrance.
“We’ve wanted them for a long time,” Dickey said of the doors. “We were just floored that they were willing to make the donation. Peerless felt like it was something the school needed, and they blessed us with that donation. The board is really appreciative of the community giving back to the school.”
Visitors should be able to get their first look at the new doors at the Bronaugh R-7 open house event, scheduled for 2:30-6:30 p.m. on Aug. 23.
