Active Shooter Training

Yesterday morning I was in a training with the majority of district and building administrators on what to do in the case of an active shooter in the school.  I found the situation to be realistic and the discussion to be thought provoking.  My notes are below.






Lockout, lockdown exercise - active shooter
JEA members in attendance: Cyndee Bowser, Paul Noble, Danny Drew, and several member principals

Use incident command system
Law enforcement will go in to locate and stop the shooter
Fire department handles fire, medical needs, HASMAT
School administration
--PA - lockdown, secure all interior doors, those in open areas should get away from the building
--Two cards in office to swipe
-- --Lockdown card puts doors back on regular door unlock schedule (inside school threat)
-- --Lockout card locks all exterior doors (outside school threat)
--district will notify surrounding schools to go into lockout as needed

Incident priorities
1. Life safety (keep students and employees safe)
2. Incident stabilization (law enforcement stops shooter and starts investigation)
3. Property conservation (protect the school)

Law enforcement will put out info to media through Public Information Officer (PIO).  It will be broad and brief so as not to hurt an investigation and to allow for next of kin to be notified on victims. Info on when and where to pick up students. A way for parents to get info and time to expect that info. Only put out info exactly as the PIO has said.

Try to monitor social media to stop inaccurate information.  Media will try to get to staff members for an emotional sound bite. Refer all media to the Public Information Officer.  Need to control the flow of info.

During response time, law enforcement will be stopping the threat. Once recovery time begins, law enforcement will slow down to interview students as needed for the investigation, account for all students, clear the building, then release students to parents.  Use student emergency contacts to get someone to pick students up.

Next day, get permission from superintendent to cancel school if needed.  Facilities department to assess damage.  Bring in food from another school if school is held. Communications to put out info on alternate location for school if needed. Need crisis team available for students and staff.  Hold staff debrief.  Hold parent meeting.

Security Cameras in Portables

Many teachers in portables have worried about the cameras being installed in portables.  These cameras are just for security.  I asked about this at the Safe Schools Committee this morning.  The cameras inside portables are not running during the school day.  They only activate when the school security system is activated in the evening by the custodian.  The cameras have motion sensors and will start recording if there is movement in the portable after activation (all night long).  This is why teachers are not allowed in their portables on weekends or earlier or later than the rest of the school is open any longer.  Also, teachers in portables should not hang items from the ceiling that may blow and cause the motion security cameras to start recording.

The purpose of the security cameras is to catch those who chose to vandalize or steal from portables.  Because portables are not part of the main school building, they are easy targets.  Most of the technology items stolen from the district have been taken from portables.  With these cameras now in place, should a portable be entered in the night, the camera will record that person and make it easier to recover stolen items.

Meeting with Superintendent Johnson

I attended my regular monthly meeting with Dr. Johnson this morning.  We talked about safety in the schools.  She said the Board will be hearing more during closed study session over the next month.  Security can be discussed in closed session, because the general public shouldn't know about all of the security measures.  Some items will be discussed in open session.

We talked about co-teaching and what that should look like as more schools are going to a push-in model for Resource.  True co-teaching has both teachers presenting material and both teachers interacting with all students through group and independent work time.  The district has not adopted any particular model. 

She stated that there has been a 100% fill rate for substitute jobs the last two days.  Hopefully with the new subs that have been hired that this will continue, especially on Fridays.