How east Idaho school districts respond to active shooter situations
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IDAHO FALLS — After recent school shootings — including 17 students shot and killed at a school in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14 — east Idaho schools are taking a close look at preparing for similar situations.
Guy Bliesner, school safety and security analyst with the Idaho Office of School Safety and Security, said policies on an active-shooter emergency are left up to the school districts.
He said unlike an active-shooter situation in an office space or restaurant, school protocols are catered to the realities of a kindergarten through 12th-grade setting. Individuals have no legal responsibility for others in an off-campus setting.
“Schools have a legal requirement to protect the children in their care,” Bliesner said.
A popular method to deal with shooters is to “run, hide, fight,” but Briesler said this approach is not effective in a school.
“It’s too individualistic and doesn’t take into account the realities of a school environment,” Briesler said.
Move, secure, defend
The Idaho Office of School Safety and Security suggests that districts implement a “move, secure, defend” protocol as “run” indicates an uncontrolled reaction without any thought.
“‘Move’ indicates an intelligent decision as to where to move,” Briesler said. “You can move with 20 second-graders, but you can’t run anywhere with any second-graders.”
In an active shooter document from the Idaho Division of Building Safety, “move” indicates moving away from danger to a place of safety.
“Secure” means to take action that will prevent physical contact between the threat and the class.
“Defend” encourages aggressive defensive measures to protect students.
The options-based portion of the protocol suggests a district’s policy should support a teacher’s right to make the best decisions for student safety.
“We believe that a school district’s policy should provide liability coverage for a teacher who chooses to move her entire class, but realize that you have to do it as a class and maintain control of those children,” Briesler said.
Bonneville Joint School District 93
Gordon Howard, Bonneville Joint School District 93’s director of safe schools, said teachers and staff within the district are being trained in the “move, secure, defend” method.
He said previously the school district emphasized responding to an active shooter through a lockdown. Howard said they still have a lockdown procedure, but this new method works better.
“The idea is to have the teachers and staff personnel think, ‘If you can move away from danger, do so,'” Howard said. “If you can then secure yourself, find a way to secure the classroom or prevent entry.”
Howard said the district takes any warnings or threats to any school seriously.
Are there places where I cannot carry a concealed weapon even with a license?
Yes. You may not carry a concealed weapon in a courthouse, juvenile detention facility, adult correctional facility, prison, jail, public school or private school. For purposes of this prohibition against carrying a concealed weapon, a “school” is defined as “a private or public elementary or secondary school.” However, the board of trustees of the school district or the governing board may grant permission to carry a weapon at school to an employee of the school or the school district.
Federal law may prohibit you from carrying a weapon in places such as federal courthouses and airports.
If you have any doubt, you should contact the government entity prior to carrying a weapon onto its premises.
— FAQ on firearms from the Idaho Attorney General’s website
“We’re trying to find ways to mitigate so that we don’t end up with an active shooter on campus and trying to do threat assessments if we get a credible tip or a lead,” Howard said. “We want to do the best job we can in preventing.”
Madison School District 321
Randy Lords, assistant superintendent for Madison School District 321, said local officers do regular check-ins at schools. They’ve been actively doing this for three years, and it’s to the point where officers will not drive past a school without walking through first.
“They stop, get out, walk the halls, interact with kids,” Lords said.
Lords said the active shooter plan for the district is simple and is called “The Basic Three” — lockdown, shelter in place and evacuation. Students and teachers are to barricade in a safe place to prevent a shooter from entry. If the area is secure, they can evacuate the building to a safe location.
“If in the main gym we hear gunshots, there’s no reason why immediately the ag center couldn’t evacuate and the fine arts center,” Lords said.
Lords said schools are required to have some form of safety drill each month.
Idaho Falls School District 91
John Cowley, resource officer with Idaho Falls School District 91, said the district’s current protocol is “run, hide, fight,” but it is working on implementing new strategies.
“We are in the process of changing things around a little bit to better mirror the state’s recommended procedure,” Cowley said.
Cowley said if an active shooter enters the building, staff will automatically take the school into lockdown, closing the doors to classrooms with children in them. Even if there is a threat of a gun in a school, they go into lockdown.
D91 staff is trained twice a year on active shooter protocol and how to deal with verifiable threats, but that number may be increased, according to Cowley. He said he’s already met with staff to go over improvements on protocol.
Cowley said training students on how to react to an active shooter during unregulated times of the day is another priority of the district.
“Early in the morning before they go to class, or during lunch, we’re working on a methodology to teach the kids what to do if in fact there’s an active shooter in the building,” Cowley said.
District staff and law enforcement regularly meet to discuss strengths, weaknesses and changes in its security protocol.
Who can call lockdown?
Briesler said his division is adamant that any staff member on a campus who sees someone with a gun or a dangerous situation should have the power to call a building into lockdown.
“Not call the office, and check with the principal and wait for the secretary — it’s very much like pulling the fire alarm,” Briesler said. “These things are over in five to seven minutes. The time between the perceived danger and the beginning of the event, we believe it’s important that schools have the ability to gain as much of that time as possible.”