It’s the ultimate in unwanted what if scenarios.
IF an armed intruder were to enter your local school building what then?
The standard procedure in similar lockdown situations has been to have students hunker down and wait for an ending.
“Too often we have seen that happen with disastrous results,” said New Lexington High School assistant principal Chuck Byers. “Data shows that the way we were doing things are not working. I hope that nothing like what happened at Columbine ever happens in New Lex, but if it does I want to be prepared.”
ALICE, short for Alert, Lockdown, Inform and Evacuate is the 21st century form of the school fire drill, only instead practicing escaping a fire ALICE teaches what to do if you come under fire.
Since the 1999 Columbine shootings there have 128 repeat incidents, most with the same result: Gunman arrives — lockdown goes in effect — students and faculty more often than not find themselves sitting targets.
More data shows that out of the 128 incidents the gunmen have a 50 percent accuracy rate and law enforcement is 20 percent. “That’s because the students are covering up on the floor waiting for the gunman to run out of bullets,” Byers said. ALICE offers a new strategy.”
The new plan is get out, or the “E” in ALICE.
“This makes sense than simply waiting,” said Bev Lucas, the high school Spanish teacher and representative for the teacher’s union. “Most of the teachers are receptive and are positive about it, right now everyone is waiting for training.”
Byers and guidance counselor Leslie Powell represented the school district at ALICE’s introduction meeting last June at the Muskingum Valley Educational Services center in Zanesville, along with representatives from schools from each school in the MVL. Byers, Powell and both elementary school principals in the district then received training in the new program, which they will then pass along, with assistance from the New Lexington Police Department, beginning Friday.
Student drills will be held March 1 and before the end of the school year a mock incident will play out.
If the program were to actually needed to be implemented the first item on the list is Alert, with P.A. announcements giving real time, un-coded information. Next is Lockdown, or to secure the student’s room and finding a way to barricade the door.
Inform. Or using any means, text, email or cell phones, to relay information to teachers.
The most controversial letter in the acronym is the “C” which in this case stands for counter, or using proactive techniques if confronted by a gunman such as throwing something (anything) at him or swarming him as a group. “The basics is what most schools do,” Byers said. “In a lockdown procedure kids go their rooms turn off lights and wait for instruction, what ALICE does is it empowers students and teachers to make decisions based on information. In the unlikely event an intruder would enter a room we train kids to counter that is to train kids.”
The “E” for evacuation calls for students to remove themselves from the building as quickly as possible to a predetermined rally point, a secure location set up with law enforcement and a place for parents to stand by.
“This program makes a lot of sense,” Superintendent Tonya Sherburne said. “Although this is different, this is a way we can keep children safer and that’s our No. 1 priority.”
This Friday is an in service day in the district, meaning no school for the students but teachers will receive their ALICE training with the help of the NLPD. “The teachers so far have been positive to it,” Byers said. “I can’t say this will prevent any child from being hurt, but by implementing this strategy it will help save lives.”
“I hope we never have to implement this, but if we are ever faced with this situation I don’t want anyone being hurt because we were unprepared.”
Author
Bill Rockwell