Communities and schools can never take enough precautions, especially when a crisis strikes.
Western Line School District hosted an active shooter drill Tuesday morning at Riverside Elementary and Riverside High schools and again in the afternoon at O’Bannon Elementary and O’Bannon High schools.
Chip Branning, the transportation/safety director for the district, said this drill will help satisfy the new Safety Act of 2019 and meet the accreditation standards.
“The purpose of this training is to make sure the proper actions are being taken by the staff and students during a lockdown procedure,” Branning said. “This is the first one, and we plan to do a couple more during the year. Each school has to do a drill each month whether it be fire drills, tornado or earthquake.”
Western Line superintendent Lawrence Hudson said the purpose of this drill is to provide the necessary training for the staff and student body on what to do in the event of an actual crisis.
“With everything that has been happening in the world, public places and in schools we wanted to bring awareness and training to our school community,” he said.
J. Cooper Dixon, with Dixon’s Safety Consulting, said the drill is designed to give the staff and students an idea of what to do without traumatizing them.
“We are locking down the exterior and interior campus and gates,” Dixon said. “I didn’t want the district to do a full active shooter drill with lights and sounds and people pretending to be shooters because I know it would leave a negative impact on everyone involved, especially the younger students.”
As the administration of the district, the safety consultant and the emergency management personnel went through each hall and created various innovative strategies and ways to keep everyone safe, such as making sure each room is secure, door windows covered and the students are quiet.
“I wanted to make sure I gave out helpful advice to everyone and gave out tips to use with future drills,” Dixon said.
David Burford, emergency management director for the Washington County Office of Emergency Management, said their main goal was to assist the administration and staff through the hallways and buildings.
“We helped assist them with doing their exercises and to help lend a hand of tips if needed along the way,” Burford said.
James Johnson, principal of O’Bannon Elementary, said the training is necessary for the safety of their students.
“The purpose of this training is to prepare both students and staff in case of a real intruder or active shooter. The goal is to keep all stakeholders and everyone involved safe,” Johnson said.
