Students in local schools participate in safety drills about twice a month because of a new state law that requires 16 drills during the school year, officials say.
Some worry the increased drills do more harm than good, but school administrators say theyve also given them an opportunity to better examine safety plans for a variety of emergencies.
State legislators are now considering a bill that would reduce the number of drills after receiving complaints from school groups that say their increased frequency not only takes away from instruction time but also causes anxiety among students and faculty when the focus is on a possible intruder intending to do harm.
USD 257 Superintendent Stacey Fager said hes also concerned the frequency of drills will make students and faculty complacent.
When youre doing a drill every two weeks, it becomes harder for students to take it seriously when theres an actual emergency, he said.
Before 2018, state law required schools to conduct one fire drill each month and three tornado drills each year. That changed for the 2018-19 school year, when legislators required nine crisis drills, in response to the school shootings like the one at Parkland High School one year ago today. That day, 17 students and staff members were killed by a lone gunman who entered the school.
New legislation would reduce the number to four fire drills, three crisis drills and two tornado drills per year.
Fager said each school has flexibility to implement the new crisis drills, which can be anything from a lockdown exercise in response to an intruder, to a gas leak or a medical emergency.
Scheduling the drills can be challenging, though, especially considering school officials often coordinate with emergency providers such as the Iola police and fire departments.
Fager said the additional drills have provided the district an opportunity to discuss school safety drills with law enforcement in a way that hadnt been done before.
One example is a reverse lockdown. In a typical lockdown situation, students are kept in classrooms during an emergency. But what happens when students are outside, such as during recess or lunch, and a situation erupts?
Because of its open campus where students can be in one of several buildings throughout the day, Iola High School practiced reverse lockdowns as part of its crisis drill requirements, principal Scott Crenshaw said.
We have a lot of kids outside and we had never drilled on how to get those kids inside and safe as quickly as possible, Crenshaw said. That was something that was kind of new for us to think about.
The school also conducted a drill that would keep students in a room during a medical emergency, such as if someone collapsed in the hall. Its important for emergency responders to be able to treat a patient without students roaming the halls during a change in classes.
The new crisis drills also limit advance warning and preparation time. Administrators previously could tell staff about a drill in advance so they could schedule tests or assignments around the drill, but now they can give notice just minutes beforehand.
The district this year added a new Lockdown phone app to its arsenal. The Humboldt school district also uses the app, and the Marmaton Valley district has discussed purchasing it as well. The app allows faculty to communicate and text each other during an emergency, such as when an intruder is in one of its buildings. Teachers can provide an immediate headcount of students so administrators can account for their whereabouts. Previously, schools used cardboard signs as an alert system.
