Local schools prepare for the worst

Staff members receive training in active shooter situations

By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent

When the Columbine High School massacre happened in 1999, the tragedy forever changed how schools protect students from shootings.

Before the shooting, school crisis plans were to hide and shelter in place, a method developed in California.

The method, created in the late 1980’s, stemmed from gang-related and drive-by shootings.

After the 1999 Columbine incident, the method created sitting ducks in classrooms, leading to more fatalities.

In response, ALICE, which is an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, is now being used at schools and aims to reduce fatalities inside classrooms.

But, proper training and practice by staff and students are crucial to survival in similar situations.

Training and practice in survival techniques are happening in Kenosha County.

Last spring, Capt. Ken Weyker of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department offered suggestions on how to survive active shooter situations to the Village of Paddock Lake staff.

The municipality’s lead has been followed by schools, starting with Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated School, which recently hosted an ALICE seminar. The seminar seeks to train those who would train others. Representatives from Bristol Consolidated School, Wilmot Union High School and Salem Grade School were there, along with some police officials from Lindenhurst, Ill. Principal Eileen Bruton and Assistant Principal Erik Schlick, both of Salem Grade School, were at the training and gave a report at the Aug. 25 School Board meeting.

Schlick provided information to the board that explained between 2000 and 2013, there have been 160 active shooter incidents in the United States, an average of 11.4 annually. In those shootings, 486 people were killed and 557 were wounded. Bruton and Schlick expect to train staff and, in turn, will train their students on how to be safer in an active shooter situation.

“Its terrible that we even have to think this way,” Schlick said in a recent interview, “but we do. And we want staff and students to be prepared rather than scared.”

Trevor-Wilmot District Administrator Michelle Garven reported that District Business Manager Michelle Brown attended the training after learning of it through research. “We were pretty excited about the possibilities of survival this model presented, and decided to offer training here,” Garven said.

During training, the group received data about the incidence of death and injury for typical lockdowns, a contrast to the new model, where survival numbers were better. The national average for an arrival response time of law enforcement to an active shooter scene is five to six minutes. By then, many could be dead and injured and the shooter could be gone. That’s why it’s so important for staff members to know exactly what to do in this sort of situation. Many schools rely on having good walkie talkie communication methods. This can be an extremely important part of keeping children safe in a shooting situation. Being able to communicate and get messages across the school site quickly is vital for survival.

However, it was surprising to see that situations, where strategy other than the typical lockdown was used, showed better chance of survival.

Garven and Brown put out a general invitation to the training last fall. At Trevor-Wilmot, the trainer was a former police official and school administrator Ed Dorff. “Many of the trainers for ALICE are former police officers and ex-military with education experience,” Garven said. The school had 15 staff members training, some of whom reported a bit of anxiety.

“Participating in active live scenarios was new to them,” Garven continued. “But people gained confidence as they completed each scenario.” This training provides hope. “When we walked into the training, we had a feeling of doom should an active shooter situation arise,” Garven said. “This training showed us how to survive.” “When we think of teachers for small children, we think of them as being very gentle,” she explained. “But we all have that inner, mama bear. This training gives us permission to release that mama bear.”


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