Ayear and a half ago when Kennedy Elementary staff heard an armed intruder had fled a home at Crater Lake Avenue, sixth-grade teacher David Cosand and about 25 other teachers had to step outside their classrooms into open breezeways to lock their doors.

"It's one of those things you run through the drills, but when you're actually in the situation, it's scary," Cosand said. "Who knows what's outside the door? You have to step intothe unknown."

The door handles on all the classrooms in 17 out of the 18 campuses in the Medford School District lock from the outside but not from the inside, meaning teachers have to step outside to secure their classrooms.

Abe Lincoln Elementary is the exception.

The vulnerability of teachers stepping outside to lock doors during times of potential danger recently prompted Medford district officials to include about $303,000 in lock replacements in the $189 million bond measure Medford voters will consider Nov. 7.

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The armed intruder on the loose April 14, 2005, near Kennedy turned out to be a false alarm.

Police later found the 13-year-old White City boy who had reported the intruder made up the tale to cover up that he had indiscriminately fired a gun in his grandmother's home at Crater Lake Avenue.

But during the police search, the fear of an armed intruder coming on the Kennedy campus was real.

"My teacher told us someone fired a gun," said Kiana Bennion, a Kennedy sixth-grader. "She told the class to be quiet and hide under our desks, and she went outside to lock the door.

"I was freaked out because I didn't know what was going on. I was hoping everything would be OK, and it was."

Estimated at about $300 each, the new mortise locks included in the bond package would be dual-sided and could be locked with a key from the inside or outside.

Kennedy alone has about 108 doors that access the outdoors on the 11-building campus.

"We want to be as safe and efficient as possible during a lockdown," said Kennedy Principal Janis Shade. If the locks are changed, "the teachers are not at risk of being outside when they lock the doors."

The locks would be built into new door handles that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, meaning people with disabilities involving fine motor skills could generally open the doors. Most of the doors in the district do not comply with laws meant to ensure people with disabilities have the same access to public buildings as everyone else.

A total of about $1.2 million in the bond measure, including the locks and door handles, would be dedicated specifically to projects meant to enhance campus security.

About $885,500 of that would go toward enclosing breezeways at Jacksonville Elementary, rearranging classrooms closer to restrooms at Jefferson Elementary and adding lighting at Kennedy.

District officials said they have been concerned about the outdoor locks for some time, but a spate of school shootings across the nation between Sept. 27 and Oct. 2, including one at an Amish school in southeastern Pennsylvania, have spotlighted the need for the change.

Reach reporter Paris Achen by calling 541-776-4459 or pachen@mailtribune.com.