District Administration- August 2008 - (Page 34)

do you know the drill? in order to get federal funding. The U.S. Department of Education’s Oﬃce of Safe and Drug-Free Schools recently announced new federal grant awards, totaling $24 million, to help school districts develop, enhance and fortify their emergency plans. The Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) grant program provides funds for local districts to improve and strengthen such plans. Funds may be used to conduct drills and exercises as well as buy emergency supplies and equipment and train school personnel and students in emergency response procedures. While many schools claim they have emergency plans, which are mandated by the federal government, a few districts go the extra mile to prepare for any possible scenario, Trump says. Here are examples of districts that are most prepared. A woman embraces her daughter following the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The tragedy became a lesson of sorts for school districts to create emergency drills and reuniﬁcation sites so students and staﬀ members could escape injury and seek safety more quickly and orderly. SOUTH BRUNSWICK PUBLIC SCHOOLS One day last March, Principal Tim Matheney walked the hallways of South Brunswick High School in New Jersey, looking for students who were hiding in dark classrooms in the case of an “active shooter.” It was part of a lockdown drill. Most students and teachers were complying with the protocol of staying out of sight, quiet and still. VTN (visibility, travel and noise) is the windows and doors, with the lights turned oﬀ, Warfel says. The district is diﬀerent from many, according to Trump, because administrators realize the importance of practicing drills during logistically diﬃcult times, such as lunchtime. For example, a principal will announce a lockdown drill over the PA system, which alerts the staﬀ to go into “automatic gear,” Warfel says. Cafeteria staﬀ members and supervisors are trained to follow the same protocol, whereby they ﬁnd the keys to the cafeteria doors and lock them from the inside, so students and staﬀ are safe inside the cafeteria. Some students in the cafeteria might be moved to nearby to stay inside the school building. Classes carry on as usual until the suspect is apprehended or the leak is ﬁxed, Warfel says. At ﬁrst, drills created some anxiety, but now students are almost used to it, Warfel says. “Our kids are so conditioned,” he says. “This is for their own safety. They know they live in a violent world.” “We don’t want our kids to know how we’re going to respond or what we’re going to do.” —Mark E. Kissel, chief of school police, Cherokee County (Ga.) Schools safety code for South Brunswick (N.J.) Public Schools. The goal of administrators and staﬀ is to eliminate visibility, travel and noise during a lockdown drill, which occurs once each fall and spring in every school building in the district, says James Warfel, director of student services. For example, if the scenario of a drill involves a gunman in the school, an administrator, usually the principal, announces a lockdown over the public address system, and students are instructed to sit quietly in one corner of their classroom, away from 34 August 2008 classrooms and the faculty room, outside the cafeteria, with staﬀ members. The district also holds drills in which students who are on playing ﬁelds or the playground are to stay at a location determined at that time. “It varies given the nature of the threat,” Warfel says. Students at the middle school might be herded to the middle school football stadium on school grounds, for example. If the police are pursuing a bank robber near one of the schools, for example, or if there is a gas leak, students are required CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOLS Prior to the April 1999 Columbine High School tragedy in Colorado, Georgia law allowed school districts to form their own police departments. Cherokee County School District in Canton, Ga., which has 36 schools, already had oﬃcers in place at the high schools, but Superintendent of Schools Frank Petruzielo recommended to the school board that a school police department be created to respond to any violent situation, according to Mark E. Kissel, chief of school police. Prior to having their own district police department, individual schools that had less violent problems, such as ﬁghts, would call 911, according to Sgt. James Morris. The police department now handles all the situations, big or small, in-house, Morris adds. The central oﬃce houses the headquarters, and an oﬃcer is stationed at each high school and middle school. The board also adopted several major priorities that included providing a safe and secure environment for teachDistrict Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration- August 2008

District Administration - August 2008
Contents
Editor's Letter
Letters
News Update
Curriculum
English Language
8th Annual Salary Survey
Do You Know the Drill?
The Evolution of Notification Systems
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem Solutions
Technology Books
Profession Opinion
Supervisor's Opinion
Crisis Response
Speaking Out
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration- August 2008