By Jason Chaney
It starts with a school-wide announcement: "All staff, please secure your rooms."
Suddenly, a seemingly typical school day is upended as staff members lock classroom doors, draw window shades, and turn off lights.
Students are hidden against interior walls, quietly waiting.
Finally, another announcement is made: "All clear."
With that, the lockdown drill is over.
The practice sessions, which take place twice a year in each Crook County school, are meant to prepare schools in the event of a potential or immediate threat to student safety.
The drill is a relatively new safety precaution in the Crook County School District - implemented during the late 1990s. A catalyst for the change could likely be traced back to the presence of school shootings this past decade.
"I think once the Thurston (school) shooting happened, police and schools (started looking at lockdown drills)," said Crooked River Principal Cheri Rasmussen.
Cecil Sly Principal Jim Bates agrees.
"Those catastrophic events have prompted districts to have procedures in place, including ours," he said.
Along with fire drills and earthquake drills, lockdowns are practiced twice each year at every school. In contrast, fire and earthquake drills are intended to prepare for a single type of incident, and lockdown drills cover a variety of scenarios.
"When it comes to lockdown procedures, if we were to hear gun shots, an explosion, or we see someone with a gun or perceive a threat that will put children at risk, we start lockdown procedures," Bates said.
While lockdown drills are practiced with the same frequency as fire and earthquake drills, schools have already been faced with real lockdown situations.
Last December, at Crooked River Elementary, the school went into lockdown in response to a phoned-in bomb threat. According to the threat, the bomb was supposedly located just west of the courthouse off of school grounds, but was still perceived as a threat to student safety.
Rocky Miner, who was previously the principal at Crook County Middle School, dealt with a lockdown situation at the middle school about two years earlier.
"There was a situation where the police were looking for someone who had committed a crime in the neighborhood," he said.
Crook County High School went into lockdown in early 2007 after a student shot himself on school grounds
For Rasmussen, the range of possibilities demand diligent preparation.
"There are so many different scenarios," she said. "You just have to be as prepared as possible."
Schools throughout the district have a universal approach, in spite of the multiple threats the drill is meant to address
"We try to keep it universal to make sure everybody's doing the same thing," Rasmussen said, adding that she feels the schools are as prepared as they possibly can be.
Prineville Police Captain Michael Boyd gives the school district's efforts a shining review.
"The school (lockdown) system here in Crook County is excellent," he said. "They are textbook perfect."
Bates seems similarly encouraged with lockdown drill results at Cecil Sly.
"I'm impressed with how expedient the drills are run and how efficient we are," he said. "Lockdown drills usually take less than a minute."
At Crook County High School, where there are about 400 more students, Miner acknowledges a lockdown drill takes a bit longer.
"The bigger the school, the longer it's going to take," he said. However, with the lockdown procedures, speed, while important, is not Miner's primary concern.
"On a lockdown drill, I'm more concerned about getting doors locked and students safe, not speed," he said.
As far as real lockdowns go, the school district is equally pleased with the results.
"Our teachers, administrators and classified staff practice in hopes we never have to use it," said human resource director Rich Shultz. "The times we've had to do (a lockdown) we've been pleased with how it went." |
