Security upgrades underway at Caon City High School

There’s not much of a break this summer for workers at Cañon City High School as major renovations are in progress.

Among the improvements: new lockdown buttons in all classrooms and new entrances or catch spaces at the main entrance.

The lockdown buttons, when pressed, activate an alarm with a different sound than the fire alarm to signal the locking of doors and for students to hide in a corner that can’t be seen from the door.

Officials say research shows an active shooter is less likely to try and force open a locked door.

The catch spaces will require a staff member or security guard to allow a person to go through a second set of doors — increasing school security so that every entry through the front door is monitored, and if someone enters that isn’t allowed, that person can’t get into the school. ( PHOTOS )

Similar upgrades are planned this summer at McKinley Elementary School and Lincoln School of Science and Technology.

Cañon City Middle School and Washington Elementary School will receive similar features when those new schools are built by the 2019-2020 school year.

For schools won’t have a catch space, the front doors will be locked and there will be a window through which a person can talk to a staff member to request access.

Many of the windows in the schools will be reinforced with shatterproof glass to prevent a potential shooter from shooting his way through the catch space of an entrance.

The projects are financed by a $5 million Building Excellent Schools Today grant in 2017 and a $2.7 million match approved by voters last fall.