May 15, 2025
Lake County to Replace All Locks on Elementary School Doors as Part of Security Upgrades
By Kyle Coppola
Lake County to Replace All Locks on Elementary School Doors as Part of Security Upgrades
LEESBURG, Fla. — Lake County Schools will replace all door locks in its elementary schools this summer as part of a districtwide safety and security initiative, officials announced this week.
The effort, part of the school system’s broader “school hardening” measures, will convert all classroom door locks to what are known as “storeroom” locks a type of mechanism that remains locked unless opened with a key from the outside. This ensures that doors automatically stay locked when closed, eliminating the risk of a classroom being unintentionally left unsecured.
The project will be completed during the summer break to avoid disruption to classes and to ensure the upgrades are in place by the time students return for the 2025-26 school year.
Lake County is the latest Florida district to implement the change, following state recommendations to improve campus safety in the wake of past school tragedies.
When this work finishes in the elementary schools, the plan is to do the same at all middle school locations in 2026 and then high schools in 2027.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
