by KIM HILSENBECK
More than 2,000 high school students, along with about 130 elementary students, were locked down during a drill at Hays High School on Friday.
Friday’s drill was staged as part of the Texas School Safety Consortium’s video training exercise. A film crew captured the drill from beginning to end. The footage will be part of a training video for school administrators.
Assistant Principal Damon Adams announced the lockdown at about 10:45 a.m. over the intercom.
“Attention students and faculty: Please implement the lock down procedures. Students, please go to the nearest classroom and follow the directions of the adults,” he said.
Everyone sprang into action, many practically running to get where they were supposed to be. Forgotten were chemistry and algebra – this was not the time for PE or history. Students scattered like insects seeking a safe place to hide, drawn toward the nearest classroom or building that offered shelter and protection.
Staff stood outside the doors of the various campus buildings, urging stragglers to hustle.
“Let’s go – come on, get inside,” they yelled. Their arms waved students along like a third base coach telling a runner to head home.
As the last of the students ran inside, doors slammed shut and locks engaged.
Seconds later, the halls in the technology building were eerily silent, echoing an absence of chatter and footfalls. With no lights on in the hallways and classrooms, the experience bordered on surreal.
No students or staff were seen or heard – one of the most important parts of a lockdown drill is remaining absolutely quiet until the all clear either from the administrative staff during a drill or the police during a real emergency.
Peering around the corner, we could see a man holding a handheld camera filming the vacant entry hall. In another part of the building, one of his colleagues filmed students sitting on the floor of a classroom, as quiet and still as 50 teenagers can be.
Even with some fidgeting and fussing, the atmosphere was calm with an undercurrent of electricity. The students knew it was a drill – yet perhaps they sensed the importance of their role in this new reality for American school students.
Their grandparents, and possibly their parents, may remember Cold War bomb drills, hiding under desks in preparation for the blast. In several southern and Midwestern states, tornado drills are not uncommon to this day, including at Hays CISD.
This new drill – a lockdown – is a sort of post-Columbine response to school shooters. It focused on more concrete potential threats rather than weather patterns and unseen foreign enemies across the globe.
After the elementary school shooting tragedy in Connecticut this past December, public school systems nationwide reviewed their safety and security procedures. Local law enforcement agencies visited schools to re-familiarize themselves with the layouts. And lockdown drills are the new norm.
Friday’s drill happened during a passing period.
“That’s the worst time to do the drill,” said Rod Walls, Hays CISD’s director of facilities & new construction, who helped coordinate the filming. “It’s like kicking the top off an ant hill – there are people everywhere.”
Normally, a lockdown drill would be done during a regular class period to cut down on trying to get that many students into position. Walls credited Principal David Pierce for agreeing to the drill. especially during a passing period.
After what seemed like an eternity, Adams gave the all clear over the PA system, congratulating the students and staff for completing the drill in eight minutes.
“Great job, guys,” he said.
