By Kim Hilsenbeck.
A recent lockdown drill at Dripping Springs Middle School was the first of many multi-agency tests that will take place in Hays County schools on a rolling basis. The drill occurred on the same day as another school shooting in Colorado.
Under the auspices of the Hays County and San Marcos Offices of Emergency Management, local first responders from Hays County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), as well as fire and EMS departments in Dripping Springs, conducted a lockdown drill earlier this month using newly adopted Standard Response Protocol (SRP) based on the “I Love U Guys” Foundation.
Representatives from Kyle Fire Department, San Marcos Police, the San Marcos Fire Department, as well as Kyle Police, Buda Police and several Hays County Constable officers participated in or observed the drill.
Bottom: Deputy Jerry Bottoms and Deputy Sirenna Cumberland of the Hays County Sheriff’s Office go room to room during the Dec. 13 lockdown drill at Dripping Springs Middle School – the same day a student at Arapahoe High School in Colorado shot fellow students then killed himself on campus. Top: school officials and Sheriff’s deputies walk the halls during the drill. (Photos by Stephen Traeger) |
According to a HCSO news release prior to the drill, “This event will serve as the introduction to the unified response that has been adopted by EVERY school district and every first responder agency within Hays County in an effort to promote situational awareness and minimize loss of life in the event of an ‘Active Shooter’ on campus.”
The background
The “I Love U Guys” Foundation, created by John-Michael Keyes and Ellen Stoddard-Keyes, came about after a school shooting tragedy involving their daughter.
In 2006, 16-year-old Emily Keyes was in Platte Canyon High School in Colorado. A gunman entered the school and held seven girls, including Emily, hostage. Emily ultimately lost her life to the gunman, but before she died, she texted her parents – “I love u guys,” and “I love u guys, K?”
The “I Love U Guys” Foundation, inspired by Emily’s texts, rolled out in 2009. The Keyes conducted research with emergency responders and discovered there was no common language between first responders, students and staff.
According to the organization’s vice president, by the end of its first year, 250 schools adopted the protocol.
The concept is based on standardizing the response to emergency situations, which may include dangerous weather events, accidents, active shooters, bio-chemical hazards and other potentially tragic circumstances.
Four basic scenarios – lockout, lockdown, evacuate and shelter – are followed by directives. For example, a lockout is followed by the directive, “Secure the Perimeter.” That is the protocol used to safeguard students and staff within the building. Lockdown would be followed by “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight,” which is used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place.
Past generations had fire drills and air raid drills. Now it’s lockdowns and lockouts. Texas state law (TEC §37.1081 and SB 1556) requires at least one lockdown drill per school year and per summer school session.
According to the “I Love U Guys” Foundation website, John-Michael Keyes now shares his experience and the SRP his foundation developed at hundreds of events each year. He tells audiences that schools give children survival techniques for fire emergencies. For example, most adults and students recognize the directive “stop, drop and roll.”
Yet in the past 50 years, Keyes said, the United States has lost no students or staff to school fires. But in the same time period, he said, hundreds of students, teachers and staff have died at the hands of active shooters inside school buildings.
In one of his presentations, Keyes said, “You don’t choose tragedy but you can choose response.”
The drill
At Dripping Springs Middle School, students and their families knew about the drill in advance. Students, faculty and staff were also required to watch a training video earlier in the semester.
On the day of the test, eighth-graders Lily and Madelyn said they were calm and prepared.
What did they think of the drill overall?
“We’ve done drills before but it was interesting to hear that it was going to be more extravagant,” Lily said, referring to having more first responders on campus.
The girls said they felt students were anxious and nervous that day, in part because, as Madelyn said, “There were lots of extra people in school today.”
“Everyone was kind of jittery,” Lily said.
Leslie Simmons, a Kyle-based counselor who works with Hays CISD students and is a member of the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), said such lockdown drills can make students anxious but less so than an actual threat and not being prepared.
“All students must be informed about how to stay safe,” Simmons said in a recent email about the drills. “We have no choice but to educate them and be realistic about the risks. Kids who have high anxiety anyway will be more anxious about the drill than kids who are typically calm.”
Back at Dripping Springs Middle School, Madelyn missed out on English, while Lily said she got out of Algebra because of the lockdown.
“It was pretty great,” she said.
Just before fourth period, at roughly 12:50 p.m., the drill began. Dripping Springs Middle School Assistant Principal Amy Koenig came over PA system and announced the start of the drill.
From that point, students moved to implement the tactics they’ve been taught.
“We knew what to do, but I kind of looked to the teacher to make sure we knew what we were doing,” Lily said.
During the drill, which lasted about 12 minutes, the girls said everything in their classrooms, and in the building, was completely silent.
“It was very quiet,” Lily said.
Was that nerve-wracking?
Madelyn said, no, “It made me feel, like, calmer.”
“I had some time to think about what was going on,” Lily said.
What did they feel they learned from practicing a lockout?
One important lesson was not to open the classroom door for anyone, even if that person says he or she is a police officer or other first responder.
During the drill, the girls said police shook door handles and tried to get in classrooms.
Because of their training, the students didn’t react.
“I knew in back of my mind it could be an intruder,” Lily said.
Both said they appreciated going through the drill.
“I feel we need to be more aware of our surroundings and what could happen,” Madelyn said.
“That shooting last year (presumably Sandy Hook Elementary) brought up a lot of attention and made our schools more aware,” Lily said.
Both girls were born after Columbine happened. In some ways, it’s the new normal for students, both in terms of having to conduct such drills and having school shootings be more prevalent.
And since that fateful day in 1999, Keyes said more than 237 violent deaths occurred at schools across the country
The debrief
At 2 p.m., the responding agencies met in the school’s library to debrief.
“This is an incredibly important task in the fact that we have a collaboration here that we believe has been very successful,” said HCSO spokesperson Lt. Jeri Skroki, who kicked off a news conference held immediately after the drill.
Media were not allowed in the school during the lockdown drill.
Hays County Emergency Management Director Kharley Smith told the audience that the Texas State University ALERRT (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) Center originally brought the “I Love U Guys” Foundation SRP to Hays County.
She said in working with local schools, law enforcement found inconsistencies in terminology.
“We need language that translates to our county’s emergency response. This SRP is the most effective program,” she said.
All emergency responders and school districts, as well as students in fourth through 12th grades, receive training via an online class. Posters with the four types of responses are also going to be in every class of every Hays County school. In addition, the posters will be in public libraries and other county-owned facilities.
Smith said it’s a big effort and investment, but not necessarily from a monetary viewpoint.
“The ‘I Love U Guys’ Foundation offers their SRP curriculum at no cost,” Smith said. “San Marcos Police paid for the posters. Then there is the time for staff training at each agency and school.”
