A newly installed fire alarm system at Logan Elementary School in Dundalk has gone off so many times since classes began that school leaders disabled it altogether, triggering an unusual safety debate just weeks into the school year. The system, installed over the summer, has sounded several times without any actual emergency, forcing evacuations that administrators say were meant to be prevented rather than provoked.
According to WBAL NewsRadio 1090 and FM 101.5, the school evacuated students multiple times with no emergency present, and school leaders ultimately switched off the new system to minimize further disruptions. The station reports that school leaders say repairs could be finished soon, though no firm date has been given.
Logan Elementary, located at 7601 Dunmanway in Dundalk, serves roughly 556 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade under Principal Nicole Wrightson for the 2026–2027 school year, according to MarylandSchools.us. The 2026–2027 academic year for Baltimore County Public Schools opened for students on August 31, meaning the faulty alarm activations have unfolded within the first month of classes, per the district's own back-to-school messaging.
A Candidate Sounds the Alarm on the Alarm
Darren Badillo, a nonpartisan candidate running for the Baltimore County Board of Education District 6 seat against incumbent Christina Pumphrey in the November 3 general election, has publicly raised concerns about the decision to disable the system whenever it activates. Badillo said the approach worries him because parents and others could grow numb to the alarm over time, and he questioned what would happen if a real emergency ever occurred. Badillo's concerns are part of his campaign for the District 6 seat.
The capital investment behind the new system is not small. State legislative reports show Baltimore County Public Schools allocated $1,405,800 in capital improvement funding for electrical upgrades and open-space enclosure renovations at Logan Elementary in recent budget cycles, according to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services. That spending fits into a much larger pattern: the district completed more than 54 summer capital projects last year alone, including replacement fire alarm installations, HVAC upgrades, and electrical modernizations across various campuses.
What the Fire Code Actually Requires
Whatever the cause of the malfunctions, disabling a fire alarm system is not something schools can simply do on their own terms under Maryland law. Under the Maryland State Fire Prevention Code, which incorporates NFPA 1 and NFPA 72 standards, when a building's fire alarm system is impaired or out of service for more than four hours, the authority having jurisdiction decides whether an approved fire watch or evacuation is needed, according to The Fast Fire Watch Company.
National fire code standards go further still. NFPA 72 requires notifying the authority having jurisdiction when a commercial or educational fire alarm system is inoperable for more than eight hours, according to QRFS. It remains unclear whether Baltimore County Fire Department was formally notified that Logan Elementary's system had been disabled, or whether an official fire watch was put in place while repairs were pending.
The stakes for noncompliance are real. Fire marshals acting as the Authority Having Jurisdiction can issue financial penalties or order a facility shutdown for fire-code violations, per FirewatchDMV.
For now, families at Logan Elementary are left waiting on a repair timeline that school leaders describe only as coming soon. Whether the fixes bring the new system into full compliance, and whether county fire officials have weighed in on the interim arrangement, remain open questions as the district works to resolve the malfunctioning equipment.
