Last week we had a mock drill that involved the middle school. The purpose of all of our drills is to practice and, also, to find out where we might have gaps in our training: students, staff and police. The scenario went like this: an "intruder" entered the building and refused to stop at the office; the office staff called a 'lock-down' and also called the police. They then called the SAU office to notify us of the situation.
Until we knew what was happening, a lock-down was called for both the high school and elementary school. The police came and "captured" the suspect, and the students and staff were evacuated to the high school. In the meantime, it was determined safe to call off the lock-down at the other two schools.
I am so proud of our students. I entered the high school gym and they were quiet and orderly while they waited for further instructions. Many had to use the restrooms and did so by quietly waiting in line. We had parents who volunteered to be a part of this so that we could practice reuniting them with their children (thank you to the parents!). We had observers in all areas to note what was happening so that we could review this information following the drill.
We found out some areas where we need to our continue training, but we also had a chance to work on our plan for reuniting students safely with their parents, practiced an evacuation, and the police were able to check their responses and training, too This entire process took just a little over two hours to complete- including evacuating the students to the high school, returning them to the middle school and accounting for every student and staff member!
We will continue to have drills in our schools for the safety of everyone and will continue our cooperation with the Raymond Police Department. Thank you to everyone who helped out or took part in our safety drill.
