School Safety and Active Shooter Protection
Oct 19, 2018
Last fall, Chuck Haggard (no intro needed) came to our school to conduct active shooter training for our staff and evaluate our lockdown and safety procedures. Demographically, our school has approximatley 700 students K-12, all in one building. We are located in a somewhat rural community of around 2000 people about 30 minutes outside 2 large Midwest cities. We do not have an SRO on site; our law enforcement oversight is provided by the county and response times could be anywhere from 2 minutes to 15 minutes depending on the location of deputies and/or state patrol in the county.
Up front, Chuck was very flexible in tailoring his curriculum to suit our staff. Our school district has been evaluated several times by local and state law enforcement during lockdown drills (utilizing the Standard Response Protocol) and as a member of the school board and safety team, I feel comfortable with our training and competency. Additionally, all teachers and staff have received an enhanced StopTheBleed class with refreshers, each classroom/teacher is issued a backpack with a NARescue Intermediate level IFAK and additional trauma supplies, and teachers are encouraged to develop individual defense plans (such as using issued fire extinguishers) for last choice action. Knowing this ahead of time, Chuck tweaked his lesson plans into a more intermediate level presentation to better suit our staff.
The day-long class started with a PowerPoint presentation going over some historical active shooter scenarios. He did an in-depth review of the Columbine incident and some of the misconceptions surrounding it. Chuck finished the classroom portion by discussing the active shooter events he was involved in and the impact its had on his training.
Upon completion of that portion, the class was split into 2 groups of approximately 30 individuals each for hands on dis-arming techniques. The teachers paired up and worked on techniques for close up weapons removal/impairment for both hand guns and long guns. The teachers also practiced methods of take down and restraint in case the need every arises. Chuck's demeanor and professionalism helped those who were timid or intimidated feel at ease and learn some valuable take-aways. More than once, I heard teachers use the term "empowering" to know some of these techniques and feel like there's a chance that they won't just freeze up if they or their students are ever faced with a situation.
The last portion of the day was spent touring the school and classrooms and discussing strong points and danger areas that the teachers use everyday. Chuck was able to view most every classroom and critique the plan that each teacher had for their space. It was very reassuring as a parent to see the changes that teachers have made in their classrooms since Chuck's discussion. Overall, the information presented by Chuck was outstanding and we have received numerous comments from the teachers about this training being some of the best in-service that they have received. Based on this training and the other work that our safety team has done, our state evaluator has ranked us in the top ten schools for safety in our state. I would highly recommend convincing your school administration to have Chuck come evaluate your safety plans!
Oct 19, 2018
Last fall, Chuck Haggard (no intro needed) came to our school to conduct active shooter training for our staff and evaluate our lockdown and safety procedures. Demographically, our school has approximatley 700 students K-12, all in one building. We are located in a somewhat rural community of around 2000 people about 30 minutes outside 2 large Midwest cities. We do not have an SRO on site; our law enforcement oversight is provided by the county and response times could be anywhere from 2 minutes to 15 minutes depending on the location of deputies and/or state patrol in the county.
Up front, Chuck was very flexible in tailoring his curriculum to suit our staff. Our school district has been evaluated several times by local and state law enforcement during lockdown drills (utilizing the Standard Response Protocol) and as a member of the school board and safety team, I feel comfortable with our training and competency. Additionally, all teachers and staff have received an enhanced StopTheBleed class with refreshers, each classroom/teacher is issued a backpack with a NARescue Intermediate level IFAK and additional trauma supplies, and teachers are encouraged to develop individual defense plans (such as using issued fire extinguishers) for last choice action. Knowing this ahead of time, Chuck tweaked his lesson plans into a more intermediate level presentation to better suit our staff.
The day-long class started with a PowerPoint presentation going over some historical active shooter scenarios. He did an in-depth review of the Columbine incident and some of the misconceptions surrounding it. Chuck finished the classroom portion by discussing the active shooter events he was involved in and the impact its had on his training.
Upon completion of that portion, the class was split into 2 groups of approximately 30 individuals each for hands on dis-arming techniques. The teachers paired up and worked on techniques for close up weapons removal/impairment for both hand guns and long guns. The teachers also practiced methods of take down and restraint in case the need every arises. Chuck's demeanor and professionalism helped those who were timid or intimidated feel at ease and learn some valuable take-aways. More than once, I heard teachers use the term "empowering" to know some of these techniques and feel like there's a chance that they won't just freeze up if they or their students are ever faced with a situation.
The last portion of the day was spent touring the school and classrooms and discussing strong points and danger areas that the teachers use everyday. Chuck was able to view most every classroom and critique the plan that each teacher had for their space. It was very reassuring as a parent to see the changes that teachers have made in their classrooms since Chuck's discussion. Overall, the information presented by Chuck was outstanding and we have received numerous comments from the teachers about this training being some of the best in-service that they have received. Based on this training and the other work that our safety team has done, our state evaluator has ranked us in the top ten schools for safety in our state. I would highly recommend convincing your school administration to have Chuck come evaluate your safety plans!