active shooter drills and school policy

[Anonymous]

Many DCPS (and presumably charters in old DCPS facilities) have classroom doors that lock only from outside. Good luck to the teacher or sacrificial student who has to go into the hallway to lock the door for the others.

[Anonymous]

Lafayette hasn't had a practice yet, I wish we would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette hasn't had a practice yet, I wish we would.

Are you a parent or teacher?

If you are a parent you may be unaware of what the teachers and staff have done. Some schools practice without students present.

[Anonymous]

My son told me at Mocs they hide on the cubby. If the best chance of survival is a teacher breaking a window and using the kids clothing to cover the glass I fully support it as they need a back up plan. At least she is trying to save them if a shooter is in the building.

[Anonymous]

We once had a police officer from fairfax county come brief our school on active shooter scenarios. He was adamant that the safest thing to do was to evacuate the building if at all possible. What he told us went 100% against FCPS policy which is to shelter in place and hide along the walls, away from the windows. Our principal had to step in and tell him to stop telling us how much safer it was to run.

My classroom is on the first floor. You bet your behind that I'm doing exactly what the other teacher said and busting a window and getting as many kids out as I can. I don't want them to be sitting ducks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We once had a police officer from fairfax county come brief our school on active shooter scenarios. He was adamant that the safest thing to do was to evacuate the building if at all possible. What he told us went 100% against FCPS policy which is to shelter in place and hide along the walls, away from the windows. Our principal had to step in and tell him to stop telling us how much safer it was to run.

My classroom is on the first floor. You bet your behind that I'm doing exactly what the other teacher said and busting a window and getting as many kids out as I can. I don't want them to be sitting ducks.

Cops are pretty notorious for thinking they know more than they do.

[Anonymous]

DD's teacher sent an email blast to families yesterday about the MoCo drills they practiced yesterday. We revive an email every time there's a fire drill or any other drill. The email blast also comes with tips and the importance of talking with your students as well as the MCPS drill policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette hasn't had a practice yet, I wish we would.

Are you a parent or teacher?

If you are a parent you may be unaware of what the teachers and staff have done. Some schools practice without students present.

Teacher. No lockdown drills in at least 3 yrs.

[Anonymous]

The ED sent a message out to families about how to talk to children about the Lv tragedy. Helpful.

[Anonymous]

Agree w pp’s who will try to evacuate kids - the current training is run, hide, fight.

[Anonymous]

Google ALICE training for current best practices

[Anonymous]

I'm not that worried about a shooter in our school. God forbid that would ever happen but the odds are super slim. I think one drill a year for that is probably sufficient. Don't call it a shooter drill though.
I worry more about incidents outside (and in the neighborhood) and how kids and teachers respond to that. That mainly comes down to good teacher training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We once had a police officer from fairfax county come brief our school on active shooter scenarios. He was adamant that the safest thing to do was to evacuate the building if at all possible. What he told us went 100% against FCPS policy which is to shelter in place and hide along the walls, away from the windows. Our principal had to step in and tell him to stop telling us how much safer it was to run.

My classroom is on the first floor. You bet your behind that I'm doing exactly what the other teacher said and busting a window and getting as many kids out as I can. I don't want them to be sitting ducks.

Cops are pretty notorious for thinking they know more than they do.

My good friend, who is former military elite, a police officer, and has led SWAT teams for years, also told us to leave if in an active shooter situation. He refers to this video: Run, Hide, Fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwejU2D0

Now obviously a school situation would be different but evacuate is the first thing he told us to do.

[Anonymous]

This seems completely unnecessary to me, and likely just frightening to kids in elementary school. I've never had active shooter training at my office, either; it doesn't seem as though it would do you any good if it actually came to pass.

But more to the point, the odds that a mass shooting will happen at your work or your kid's school are incredibly low: Yes, there is a mass shooting in America every day, on average. There are 98,000 schools in America, though, and far more workplaces than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here.

Unfortunately, our lockdown drills are only for show at my school.
1. Wait for an announcement over the PA that we are in a 'hard' lock down.
2. Lock the classroom door.
3. Pull down the shade over the large window on the door and turn off the lights.
4. Tell the students to put their heads down on their desks and remain quiet.
5. Wait for an all-clear over the PA system.

I don't know a single teacher who will stick to that plan. We don't have anywhere to hide in the classroom, and anyone who wants to get in would simply have to break the window on the door and turn the handle.

My plan is to use a chair to break one of the windows in the back of the classroom, throw some coats over the broken glass on the frame, and get as many kids out that way as possible.

I've told my daughter to hide or play dead. It's sad that this is the reality that we live in.

Your plan is a good one. Tell your daughter to run if possible, just like you are planning to do with the kids. The active shooter plans here are horribly outdated. It's worrisome. Best practice is to run, fight, hide--whichever makes sense. Please ask your schools to get up to date training protocols!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-act-violence/201408/the-truth-behind-the-run-hide-fight-debate