I would like to add my thanks and appreciation to both Chuck Kemper and Chief Taylor for taking the measures necessary to assure the safety of my children where they spend most of their day. ?“It can?’t happen here?” just doesn?’t fly with me.
School lockdown a success, officials say
Thursday, March 1, 2007
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
An ''invader'' stormed Pickerington High School Central last week as part of an innovative safety drill designed to protect students and faculty in the event of a shooting.
At the beginning of the school day on Feb. 21, a Pickerington police officer posing as an assailant entered the building, firing blanks at staff members as he ranged the hallways. School officials locked the building down for the next half-hour while a team of four Pickerington officers tracked and subdued the ''perpetrator.''
The Ohio Highway Patrol and Fairfield County Sheriff's deputies assisted in the exercise, securing the school's perimeter while Pickerington's road department closed off surrounding streets and Violet Township emergency medical personnel responded to the scene.
During the drill, students huddled in their darkened and locked classrooms, keeping clear of windows and doors.
Principal Chuck Kemper coordinated the exercise, a first among central Ohio schools, last fall after a series of school shootings -- including one at an Amish school in rural Pennsylvania -- renewed awareness that no community is immune from such tragedies.
However, Kemper canceled the lockdown one week prior to November's general election after a few parents raised concerns about the safety risks and trauma the exercise itself could possibly impose on the students. One parent even promised to campaign relentlessly against the district bond issue that appeared on the ballot if the school did not cancel the simulation.
Kemper said he has since tried to improve communication with the parents about the drill, sending home letters describing the event and offering families the chance to opt out and send their children to school once officials completed the exercise. The importance of the drill was too great not to proceed, he said.
''The idea behind this is, No. 1, I think it is a shame that we have to do things like this, but No. 2 is that we have to do everything we possibly can to keep the students safe,'' Kemper said.
He said PHS Central does conduct regular lockdown drills, in which students vacate the hallways and hide from external view within their classes, but it has never incorporated a live simulation.
In coordinating the staged invasion, Kemper said he wanted to break from the routine nature of such exercises and ''elevate the blood pressure,'' while generating conversations about safety and readiness should a real gunman infiltrate the school grounds.
In that respect, the drill was successful, according to Central sophomore Megan Adkins.
''We've all heard about Columbine and we have all heard about the other schools where this has happened, and no one knows what to do except to stay in your classroom,'' Adkins said. ''Most people thought it was cool.''
''I was really glad that Mr. Kemper cared enough about our safety that he decided to go ahead with the drill,'' said Catie O'Brien, a junior. ''I'd rather us be prepared than us not know what to do.'' She added that the student body generally favored the execution of the drill.
- more to come
By Central Dad
School lockdown a success, officials say
Thursday, March 1, 2007
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
An ''invader'' stormed Pickerington High School Central last week as part of an innovative safety drill designed to protect students and faculty in the event of a shooting.
At the beginning of the school day on Feb. 21, a Pickerington police officer posing as an assailant entered the building, firing blanks at staff members as he ranged the hallways. School officials locked the building down for the next half-hour while a team of four Pickerington officers tracked and subdued the ''perpetrator.''
The Ohio Highway Patrol and Fairfield County Sheriff's deputies assisted in the exercise, securing the school's perimeter while Pickerington's road department closed off surrounding streets and Violet Township emergency medical personnel responded to the scene.
During the drill, students huddled in their darkened and locked classrooms, keeping clear of windows and doors.
Principal Chuck Kemper coordinated the exercise, a first among central Ohio schools, last fall after a series of school shootings -- including one at an Amish school in rural Pennsylvania -- renewed awareness that no community is immune from such tragedies.
However, Kemper canceled the lockdown one week prior to November's general election after a few parents raised concerns about the safety risks and trauma the exercise itself could possibly impose on the students. One parent even promised to campaign relentlessly against the district bond issue that appeared on the ballot if the school did not cancel the simulation.
Kemper said he has since tried to improve communication with the parents about the drill, sending home letters describing the event and offering families the chance to opt out and send their children to school once officials completed the exercise. The importance of the drill was too great not to proceed, he said.
''The idea behind this is, No. 1, I think it is a shame that we have to do things like this, but No. 2 is that we have to do everything we possibly can to keep the students safe,'' Kemper said.
He said PHS Central does conduct regular lockdown drills, in which students vacate the hallways and hide from external view within their classes, but it has never incorporated a live simulation.
In coordinating the staged invasion, Kemper said he wanted to break from the routine nature of such exercises and ''elevate the blood pressure,'' while generating conversations about safety and readiness should a real gunman infiltrate the school grounds.
In that respect, the drill was successful, according to Central sophomore Megan Adkins.
''We've all heard about Columbine and we have all heard about the other schools where this has happened, and no one knows what to do except to stay in your classroom,'' Adkins said. ''Most people thought it was cool.''
''I was really glad that Mr. Kemper cared enough about our safety that he decided to go ahead with the drill,'' said Catie O'Brien, a junior. ''I'd rather us be prepared than us not know what to do.'' She added that the student body generally favored the execution of the drill.
- more to come
By Central Dad
