Campus Safety Practices Lock Down Drill During Classes
During the past couple weeks, safety drills have been executed across campus to ensure that students and faculty are aware of proper protocol in the case of a real threat. However, some concerns have surfaced pertaining to the efficiency and infallibility of these drills. Some students worry that drill procedures aren’t being followed and don’t align with the reality of a threat on campus, leaving the community ill-prepared to face potential emergencies.
Campus Safety Officer Andrew Pixley emphasized the importance of administering drills on campus. “The purpose behind the drills is to educate people on how to safely exit a building during a fire or other emergency,” he said. “We all need to be trained on the sound of a fire alarm, what to do and where to go.” He also mentioned the faculty involvement during said drills and how they can facilitate the process. “Faculty should take the lead during fire drills, getting everyone together and accounting for all students in their charge,” he added. “Also, it’s a great time review the process as a class or dorm.”
“The purpose behind the drills is to educate people on how to safely exit a building during a fire or other emergency,” [Officer Pixley] said. “We all need to be trained on the sound of a fire alarm, what to do and where to go.”
On Oct. 23, Campus Safety held a school-wide lockdown drill. The drill took place during the school day, when classes and sports were being led. “We never conduct drills with the intent to disrupt school activities,” Pixley said. “However, emergencies can happen at anytime, and that’s why we practice and train like we do.” Prior to the lockdown drill, Campus Safety sent out several emails alerting the school of a lockdown drill in the following week and detailing proper procedure during the drill.
Students were in various academic and non-academic buildings when the lockdown alarm rang. “I was in art class when the drill happened,” prep Alicia Cobble said. “My teacher started to lock the doors, close the blinds and told us to be quiet.” Students in other required academic appointments followed the same procedure. “My math teacher asked us to close the window blinds and to close the door, then we resumed class,” senior Michael Garcia said. “When the drill was over, [my] math class resumed normally.”
However, in some classes, the lockdown drill didn’t pass as smoothly. Lower Samuel Park was in his club tennis class when the drill occurred. “When we heard the drill, the coaches instructed us to gather in a group,” he said. “From there, we were told that if there was a real emergency, we would have run and climb over the fence to get into town and away from campus.” Although this would have been the procedure in a real emergency, the students continued playing, as it was impractical to leave campus just for the drill. “This seems a bit ineffective and unplanned to me,” Park concluded.
Senior Kate Lu was in the middle of a physics test when the drill began. “We just locked the doors and continued working through the alarm,” she said. Lu also mentioned her discontent with the current drill procedure protocol. “I think drills are necessary for our safety, but it might be helpful if they were organized in a better way,” she added.
Lower Eva Carchidi’s English instructor was locked out the classroom. “I was in my class METIC for English during the lockdown drill,” she said. Due to the absence of the teacher, the students were initially unaware of what to do. Then, a student locked the door and the rest of the class joined him in piling objects against the door. “Our teacher tried to get back in, but he couldn’t,” Carchidi added. “Our teacher was basically locked out of our classroom.”
Senior Lara Galligani noted the importance of teacher presence in a lockdown situation. “Some teachers don’t really follow proper drill procedure—they continue on with the class like nothing happened,” she said. “However, others acknowledge that there is a drill and they actually talk you through what you are supposed to do in case of a real emergency.” According to Galligani, this results in students remaining calm and more informed.
To most students, having the lockdown drill during the school day was an effective method of preparation. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Garcia said. “I would rather take the time out of class to learn the proper procedure than not know what to do in an actual emergency.” Galligani agreed, saying that “it’s important to be prepared in case something does happen and I think it’s imperative that we practice that and all know what to do.”
Pixley acknowledged the favorable response to the drill on Oct. 23. “Text alerts reach all faculty, staff and students in under three minutes and all access control buildings were locked down in under three minutes as well,” he said. He concluded with the development he has noticed since past school-wide drills. “With all things in safety and security, there is room for improvement, but with that, we as an entire school have gotten better each time the drill is conducted.”