Locker room security issues under review by district.

Spring-Ford Area School District officials called it “a challenge” to ensure district locker rooms are secure, especially when they’re being used by outside organizations.

“The current policy states that someone will be by the door at all times to let people in and out,” Assistant Superintendent Allyn Roche said. “If you’ve attended our facilities in the evening, that’s not necessarily the case.”

The news came Monday after a concerned resident asked if the district had reevaluated its security con- tracts given the locker room incident at Perkiomen Valley High School in February.

Pennsylvania State Police in Skippack charged John Lyons Jr., 53, of Collegeville, with invasion of privacy and related offenses after he allegedly used a cell phone to record activity inside the boys locker room at Perkiomen Valley High School, according to the district and court records. On Saturday, Feb. 18, the school hosted the Perkiomen Invitational Swim Meet, and due to the large size of the event, the boys locker room was being used by female athletes attending the swim meet.

Members of the high school administrative team responded quickly after learning a man had reportedly recorded video inside the locker room and immediately sought the assistance of state police, the district said previously. State police arrived at the school to investigate the incident, which resulted in charges being filed.

The students in the locker room at the time of the incident were clothed, either in street clothes or bathing suits, and were not Perk iomen Valley High School athletes, the district said previously. Two security officers were also on duty during the invitational, as is district practice for many high school athletic tournaments and events.

At Monday’s meeting resident and current school board candidate Christina Melton asked Spring-Ford officials if that incident sparked an opportunity to reevaluate the district’s security contracts to ensure something similar doesn’t happen.

“To make sure that during extracurricular activities or when third parties are using our facilities that we have appropriate security,” she said.

Assistant Superintendent Allyn Roche called the district’s policy a challenge to uphold.

“That specific topic in terms of use of facilities in the evenings by outside groups or even inside groups is a challenge the way the current policy is written,” he said. “The current policy states that someone will be by the door at all times to let people in and out. If you’ve attended our facilities in the evening, that’s not necessarily the case.”

The policy is something the district is still working on, he said, in an effort to “be more realistic in that way.”

It has to do with access to the building and how far people can get, especially during evening and other after school events, he said.

Policy changes have taken place in the past after similar events like the incident at Perkiomen Valley, said board Vice President Tom DiBello. Mickey McDaniel, director of athletics, confirmed that exterior access to the locker rooms are locked.

“Any of our locker rooms are pretty much on lock down mode,” DiBello said. “You can only enter coming in from the floor in most instances.”

That said, DiBello admitted there are situations where those rooms could be open, such as if students inadvertently unlocked the doors. He’s personally seen outside groups prop the doors open, he said.

“We try to lock down everything as much as we can ,” he said. “Even when outside groups are using our buildings. These doors are supposed to stay locked and we have to do a better job of enforcement.”