active shooter drills and school policy

[Anonymous]

As horrible as it sounds, the new normal is mass shootings are as American as apple die. Statistics show no other country has as high rate of not only gun violence but mass murder by guns than the United States. I am not sure if there is an end of this new reality in sight.

At work we receive active shooter training and had law enforcement come in to tell us what steps we should take. I am curious if DCPS or public charter schools your children are in have an active shooter policy or drills in place.

[Anonymous]

They have shelter in place drills and evacuation drills

[Anonymous]

Your school has to have a safety / emergency plan in place which includes active shooter situations.

I think you can request a copy or to be briefed on it.

[Anonymous]

Your LSAT is the place to ask. As an LSAT rep, I got some of the gory details of those drills after the Sandy Hook shooting. They are careful not to do "active shooter pretend games" with kids but the procedures definitely involve that scenario. Not sure how many of the details would be useful to share with the public. I imagine that some details would be confidential for tactical reasons. But here is an example: Your school (DCPS anyway) has colored cards (red, yellow, green) in classrooms, which teachers/staff can use to stick under/out the door to communicate if barricaded. Green would mean something like "I have all of my kids accounted for in this room". As much as you'd eventually have to rely on the caregiver's instincts to do what is necessary, it is really is highly routinized, sadly.
Following the earthquake in DC, safety procedures were updated because schools apparently didn't react then in the right way. Earthquakes just weren't on DC's radar then as a possible scenario.

[Anonymous]

We do in APS. Don't think that it will save anyone though. If an active shooter wants to kill people he will. The only thing that will stop him is someone else with a gun unless he kills himself first.

[Anonymous]

DD goes to a Moco Elem school. I was going to ask what their active shooter policy was when she started but then I saw it posted on the inside of the classroom doors.
There are 2 levels of lockdowns, one where they keep the kids inside the school but everything inside is as normal. Then they have another one more specific for active shooter where they close the blinds, lock doors, no movement in the hallways.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe our society has come to this. When I was in school we had fire drills but there was never news of mass killings involving kids. Yet, it has happened and will likely happen again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do in APS. Don't think that it will save anyone though. If an active shooter wants to kill people he will. The only thing that will stop him is someone else with a gun unless he kills himself first.

I've had friends in suburban areas tell me that their kids have been subjected to full tactical active shooter drills at school-so swat teams descend and the kids are participants in the drill. In my opinion that is some macho bullshit hero fantasy that will terrify our kids but never save them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do in APS. Don't think that it will save anyone though. If an active shooter wants to kill people he will. The only thing that will stop him is someone else with a gun unless he kills himself first.

I've had friends in suburban areas tell me that their kids have been subjected to full tactical active shooter drills at school-so swat teams descend and the kids are participants in the drill. In my opinion that is some macho bullshit hero fantasy that will terrify our kids but never save them.

Agreed 100%. If you are thoughtful about the actual risks to your child's life, you would severely limit their time in a car at high speeds. By far the biggest risk to their lives.

[Anonymous]

Not only do our kids have drills, but last week Murch had the real thing ordered by the Secret Service when they had an active threat at the embassy across the street (turned out to be nothing). Fun times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only do our kids have drills, but last week Murch had the real thing ordered by the Secret Service when they had an active threat at the embassy across the street (turned out to be nothing). Fun times.

For those not familiar with this the threat was a powder at an Embassy not a active shooter. Just don't want to freak people out (not that a powder isn't also scary) that there was a gunman roaming DC.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

Please don't. While you may disagree with shelter in place, it is currently thought to be the best. Having kids running out of the building may put them in danger from the actual shooter, police responding to the scene, and other people fleeing the scene. More importantly, the lockdown probably does not even actually involve an active shooter (or one at least one in the building), so now you would have scared kids running from the school without a designated muster location. If there was an active shooter nearby, resources are going to need to be diverted to find the missing children and making sure they are okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please don't. While you may disagree with shelter in place, it is currently thought to be the best. Having kids running out of the building may put them in danger from the actual shooter, police responding to the scene, and other people fleeing the scene. More importantly, the lockdown probably does not even actually involve an active shooter (or one at least one in the building), so now you would have scared kids running from the school without a designated muster location. If there was an active shooter nearby, resources are going to need to be diverted to find the missing children and making sure they are okay.

PP has described what DS does in the lockdown drill. He's also told me that they are supposed to hide somewhere, usually in the cubbies for coats and backpacks or under the tables/desks.

I think PP's idea of going out a window is a good idea, if there's ever another Sandy Hook. Or at least, no worse than putting heads on desks or hiding behind coats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please don't. While you may disagree with shelter in place, it is currently thought to be the best. Having kids running out of the building may put them in danger from the actual shooter, police responding to the scene, and other people fleeing the scene. More importantly, the lockdown probably does not even actually involve an active shooter (or one at least one in the building), so now you would have scared kids running from the school without a designated muster location. If there was an active shooter nearby, resources are going to need to be diverted to find the missing children and making sure they are okay.

I've been in situations where we've locked down because of someone in the neighborhood outside with a gun. I'm talking about an actual shooter inside the building going classroom to classroom. I would rather police search for students who are missing than identify those who are dead.