When Phoenix High School went into a lockout on Feb. 14 amid reports of a suspicious individual with a firearm near the school, the first person student Reyna Pillajo Kern texted was her sister, who also attends PHS.

“My number-one thing is her safety,” Kern, a student representative of the Phoenix-Talent School Board, said Thursday during a board meeting.

The thought of a shooter being in the building is “terrible,” Kern told the board. Questions crossed her mind, like “Where would I run?” and “What teacher do I feel comfortable with?”

“So, even if this (plan) isn’t the thing that is right for the school, I do think there should be precautions to prevent school shootings,” Kern said, “and the school has done amazing things, but I think we definitely could take it a step further.”

She was referring to a $7-million plan by Safe Zone Solution, a local nonprofit, calling for bullet-resistant doors and glass at all of the district’s schools and its administrative office. The plan could also include a firearms detection system.

“If you want to stop rain, you’ve got to take out an umbrella,” Alex Sol, who co-founded Safe Zone Solution with his wife, Natalie, said in an interview after the meeting. The Sols have two children in the Ashland School District. “If you want to stop bullets, you have to use bullet-resistance.”

The proposal comes after voters approved a $68-million bond in 2017 that included increased safety and security throughout the Phoenix-Talent School District.

Alex Sol, a retired Hollywood actor who survived a downtown Los Angeles shooting, hosted a town hall at the Ashland Springs Hotel last summer to gain public support for the Ashland School District to implement the nonprofit’s safety features. The district has not made an agreement with the nonprofit but remains “open” to learning more about its ideas, Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove wrote in a recent email to Rogue Valley Times.

Alex Sol invited members of the Phoenix-Talent School Board to the Ashland town hall, but not everyone could make it — including his friend, senior board member Rick Nagel. But after discussing Safe Zone Solution plans privately with Nagel, Alex Sol was invited to give a presentation to the Phoenix-Talent School Board in September 2023.

After the presentation that touched on what Safe Zone Solution does, Alex Sol conducted a walk-through of all Phoenix-Talent Schools and the district office in December 2023. His assessments concluded that the facilities were still vulnerable to an active shooter despite the numerous security upgrades the district had made over the years.

Those findings were included in a January report presented by Safe Zone Solution’s board of directors, which the Phoenix-Talent School Board discussed Thursday at Phoenix High School.

During the meeting, Nagel called Alex Sol “an honorable person” who cares about school safety and has conducted thorough research on the matter.

Chairman Michael Campbell thanked Sol publicly for his efforts to keep the district’s children safe.

“That is our number-one job and responsibility as school leaders,” Campbell said. “I see your heart and passion, and it’s one we all share.”

He called the Safe Zone Solution proposals “compelling,” but questioned several aspects, including a “reverse safety issue” that might be created with glass classroom windows that can’t be broken.

Campbell also noted that if the school district wanted an external organization to install new security measures, the school board would have to put out a request for proposals. An RFP would invite firms interested in working with the school district to apply and set a cost for services. The school board would then select a firm based on the district’s needs.

While the school board is “interested in exploring something like this product,” Campbell said the board would not take action on the Safe Zone Solution plan Thursday and could consider other options in the future.

In an interview after the meeting, Alex Sol seemed to appreciate the school board’s deliberations.

“I saw a board that is cautiously proceeding with wanting to learn and understands what we’re doing and trying to get comfortable with us,” he said. “I think this is a lot to digest.”

Alex Sol added, “I’m glad they didn’t totally close the door … I am optimistic that we will be able to demonstrate the reasons why this makes sense.”

Julie Kopf, a Talent Elementary School parent who is a friend of the Sols, endorses Safe Zone Solution’s plan.

“Those doors are completely framed in a wall of glass. That’s where all these shooters are getting in,” Kopf said in an interview. “Schools, guaranteed, are going to be kicking themselves for not doing this (plan) sooner.”

Lucas Maldonado, co-owner of Coolvu Glass and Surface Solutions, attended the school board meeting with his wife, Kacey, who also co-owns the business that the couple founded. Alex Sol is working with Coolvu, which focuses on installing the glass glazing that works to protect facilities against school shootings.

Coolvu’s products include a film that would delay entry of an active shooter into a school by a few seconds, Maldonado said in an interview Monday. 

A stronger, polycarbonate material could blunt the impact of numerous firearms, ranging from handguns to assault rifles, and make it less likely an active shooter could enter a school, Maldonado said. 

“I’ve personally shot at (our products) and I’ve brought a bat to try to break through the stuff,” Maldonado said. “It’s strong. I think if these products were at a school, it could potentially prevent a school shooting.”

Maldonado said he is hopeful that Coolvu will be able to work with the Phoenix-Talent School District. He credited Phoenix High School, which he saw during the walk-through, as one of the safer public schools he has visited.

Jon McCalip, director of facilities and special projects for the Phoenix-Talent School District, said he met privately with Alex Sol before Thursday’s school board meeting. McCalip questioned parts of the Sol’s plan, including glazing on any glass in the schools.

“When it comes down to it, it’s the points of entry that face the front — those are the ones we have to worry about,” McCalip said. “Mass casualties is what we really want to avoid, which means (an active shooter has) to gain access to the building; (the active shooter is) not going to gain access through one of the classroom windows. They’re too high and too small.”

McCalip also questioned whether bulletproof doors would be effective when active shooters can shoot through walls. 

He believes, however, that glass glazing could be effective on the school’s vestibule doors.

Despite his concerns, McCalip said he would be happy to carry out the school board’s wishes if it chose to work with Safe Zone Solution.

McCalip said the district did not have secure campuses prior to the bond’s passage. In a tour of Phoenix High School, he touted its security features — made possible by the bond — such as having all doors facing the road locked to the outside, vestibule doors that are locked during instructional hours and a computerized ID system that can tell if a visitor has a criminal history.

Phoenix High School’s front office is also equipped with a button that can instantly lock all doors and trigger a lockdown with automated instructions for people inside the building.

McCalip said he is open to having discussions with external entities making suggestions about school security. 

“That’s how we keep getting better,” McCalip said.