LYNN — Local schools earned high preparedness marks following lockdown drills run throughout October, educators and police said Monday.
With the help of the Lynn Police Department, the drills in all 28 public schools and three private schools allowed schools to test their preparedness in the event of an emergency.
The drills were conducted without notifying students and teachers prior to the simulations. Principals made public address system announcements to inform employees and students their school is under lockdown procedure.
As the drills unfolded with teachers supervising students, members of each school’s emergency response team paired with members of the Lynn Police Department walked around different parts of the school observing how teachers and students responded to the drill. Afterwards, principals and officers graded drill participation and talked about any potential issues that need to be addressed.
Harrington School Principal Debra Ruggiero said that overall the drills went excellent, but some issues were apparent.
“During one drill, a little boy hid in the bathroom,” said Ruggiero. “He had gone to the boys’ room and heard that there was a lockdown. The emergency response team found him, and assured him that it was just a drill.”
The drills were evaluated on a scale of 1-10. All schools received an eight or higher. An eight was defined as a “good” score, with many schools receiving a nine or 10, which is considered “excellent.”
Drills will be done twice a year in collaboration with the police, and periodically throughout the school year, at the discretion of principals.
“We don’t want to do it too often,” said police officer Robert Ferrari. “You don’t want it to become so routine that people become complacent.”
Ferrari and Ruggiero both said students actively paid attention, and were prepared for the drills. The first collaborative procedures between the police department and the schools started in 2007.
The police and schools are both actively intertwined with the safety of students and teachers. The schools’ cameras are fed into the cameras of the Police Department, which allows police to monitor any situation.
Even students have helped with the procedures, offering up their own suggestions, or helping substitute teachers during a procedure.
“The middle school and high school students have actually responded in such a positive way,” said Ferrari. “We’ve had several instances where substitutes will panic because they have not gone through the drill, and students will direct the teachers on exactly what to do.”
In addition to improving emergency procedures, the school buildings have also become safer. With many Lynn Public School buildings more than 100 years old, some of the doors did not lock. Schools now have doors that automatically lock when shut, as well as intruder locks. Intruder locks allow doors to always stay in the locked position. These locks also allow the door to be locked from the inside.
