Florida requires campus access doors, gates, and other building access points to remain closed and locked unless someone is actively entering or exiting. Unannounced district and state inspections check that condition, with follow-up after documented noncompliance.
THE REQUIREMENT
Campus access doors, gates, and other building access points must remain closed and locked unless someone is actively entering or exiting. A school safety specialist may document an exception for a specific access point in the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool portal when other safety measures apply.
The cited authority is Fla. Stat. § 1006.07(6) plus Fla. Admin. Code r. 6A-1.0018 (School Safety Requirements and Monitoring).
"All campus access doors, gates, and other access points that allow ingress to or egress from a school building shall remain closed and locked at all times to prevent ingress, unless a person is actively entering or exiting the door, gate, or other access point or the school safety specialist... has documented in the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool portal... that the open and unlocked door, gate, or other access point is not subject to this requirement based upon other safety measures."
Florida combines district oversight with announced and unannounced Office of Safe Schools inspections. The verified record characterizes this as the heaviest enforcement among locked-condition states.
| Layer | Responsible office | Cadence | Documented action |
|---|---|---|---|
| District inspection | District school safety specialist | Annual and unannounced at every district school | Conducted using the Office of Safe Schools form |
| State inspection | Office of Safe Schools | At least one unannounced inspection of every public school every three years while school is in session | Part of announced and unannounced inspections of public schools, including charter schools |
| Reinspection | Office of Safe Schools | Within six months after documented noncompliance | Follow-up inspection after a documented finding |
| Quarterly reporting | District school safety specialist | At least quarterly | Reports noncompliance to the superintendent and school board |
SCOPE OF THE RULE
The record covers campus access doors, gates, and other access points that allow ingress to or egress from a school building.
Those access points remain closed and locked unless a person is actively entering or exiting.
A school safety specialist may document in FSSAT that a specific access point is not subject to the requirement based on other safety measures.
The verified record describes exceptions as documented per door in the FSSAT portal. It does not identify monitoring as an exception.
No door-specific fine is specified.
Noncompliance is subject to quarterly reporting, reinspection, and superintendent accountability processes.
The state inspection program can include documented findings and photo evidence in FSSAT.
HB 1473 expanded campus access requirements and quarterly noncompliance reporting in 2024.
SB 1470 led to 2025 rule amendments addressing zones, locked classroom door exceptions, and drills.
A related secondary classroom lock rule was under administrative challenge in August 2026.
BETWEEN INSPECTIONS
Florida sets a locked condition and checks it through recurring district and state inspections. The record does not establish a recurring school-staff door-sweep log, so the time between inspections remains the awareness gap.
For a district evaluating monitoring, the relevant outcomes are continuous open-or-closed status between inspections plus a time-stamped event log.
A contact sensor proves that a door is closed. It never proves that the door is latched or locked.
Monitoring does not satisfy, replace, or create an exception to a Florida locked-door requirement or inspection.
Learn about door monitoring, or return to the school door security guide.
These answers separate the locked condition, the documented exception, the inspection stack, and the consequences of a finding.
Yes. Campus access doors, gates, and other building access points must remain closed and locked unless someone is actively entering or exiting. A school safety specialist may document an exception for a specific access point in the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool portal when other safety measures apply.
A school safety specialist may document in the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool portal that a specific access point is not subject to the closed-and-locked requirement based on other safety measures. The verified record describes these exceptions as documented per door.
District school safety specialists conduct annual unannounced inspections of all district schools. The Office of Safe Schools conducts announced and unannounced inspections of public schools, including at least one unannounced inspection of every public school every three years while school is in session.
Documented noncompliance leads to reinspection within six months. District school safety specialists report noncompliance to the superintendent and school board at least quarterly. No door-specific fine is specified, but noncompliance is subject to reporting, reinspection, and superintendent accountability processes.