I am shaking my head reading this article about a local PD who, probably with the best of intentions, have turned an active shooting training into a misguided attempt to put “fear” in the place of skill or strategies. You can check it out HERE.

It was under the guise of increasing the tension of the training but fell flat on its face in execution. Shooting people with pellet or airsoft guns will indeed make them feel the pain, but when I do school safety training, I want them to remember the plan!

What good is creating a fearful, painful place in our schools? And it is doubly worrying if that school has no plan in place. To teach a skill, such as thinking under pressure, you really should start with the smaller skills of keeping calm, pre-planning possible movement options and how to take cover from fire.

I remember one school wanted me to teach all of their teachers to fire weapons. The problem is, this can create a much more dangerous environment than when we start. Without having to jump into any political argument, guns are tools just like any other tool someone can use for a job. The hammer in the wrong hands at a work site can indeed cause problems. It is more so with firearms.

Principals, please start your safety and security training with a plan! I believe in realistic training, but that training should be systematic and purposeful. Scaring the daylights out of someone simply doesn’t work. Should a shooting event occur, believe me, they will already be scared, but do they know what to do? Do the teachers have options and strategies they have practiced they can call upon to better protect their students and their selves? Finally, do they know what to do when the more plausible threat occurs (fire, violent individual, shelter-in-place, etc.)?

Common sense safety and security for schools – more than active shooter drills!

In the age of seemingly increasing gun violence in schools, we are seeing more and more solutions addressing that one issue, but the problem is, school face many more issues and the probability that a bomb threat, shelter in place or dealing with other violent individuals is much greater.

Schools need a method of planning that incorporates all possible threats they may encounter. That is why every school needs its own site based plan because all schools face diverse types of threat possibilities. They also need to be able to defend their own rationale for their planned responses to each threat.

If you are interested in developing a more encompassing plan, one that considers all the threats your school may face, send me a note and I would love to work with your school and/or district.

After 20 years of military experience in defending or protecting their most valuable assets, from nuclear weapons to presidents, and having more than 12 years experience in public schools as a teacher and administrator, I bring a unique perspective to this process.

I am very much looking forward to going to Columbus next week to do a full assessment and staff training on school safety and security. I am certainly seeing an uptick in requests for surveys and staff training!

Security is often the last thought on anyone’s mind or budget, but as we see more and more different types of threats out there, it really is prudent to have a plan, train your staff and methodically consider each and every possible threat that may befall your school, church or organization.

From full on-site assessments to helping you train your safety and security team, my goal is to make sure you give yourself options that make sense in your community and culture. Blanket statements and policies run the risk of having far too many gaps to be realistic for every school. That is why it is so important to set your feelings aside and look at your own terrain, building, staff, and mission to determine what you will plan to do with each individual threat.

Interested? Please contact me at eric@ericcombs.com I would love to help you protect that which is most precious. Eric

Often, we see an evacuation drill done in conjunction with a fire drill. These are simple, pull the alarm and everyone lines up outside and a head count is done. The problem with this approach is that staff may equate the term evacuation with that simple drill.

Evacuations can be quite complicated and to do them right you need to understand the possibilities and hopefully, you have created different options in your evacuation plan.

Option? Ask yourself what would happen is the alarm goes off and the normal route you take out of the building is blocked or is part of the danger (on fire for example?) What would happen if the alarm goes off and your class is at recess or lunch?

You see it is much more than simply going outside and counting kids. An effective and safe option is to know what routes are the safest for you and your students, which routes offer the best cover or even concealment along the way. Finally, you need to plan to continue your route if the initial point to go to is possibly compromised or potentially dangerous because of the situation at the school.

Here is an example, the modified lockdown signal is given to your school. You secure your student and then here the commotion in the main office. Looking outside you see your route of travel to your normal evacuation point goes right past the main office. Have you planned for a secondary path? Do you stay put? So many decisions and the answers can be impossible if you haven’t done some pre-planning.

So, with this idea in mind, I encourage you to look at your process and try to develop other options for yourself and students. If you have never considered these possibilities, then trying to do so under pressure is extremely difficult. But, if you’ve walked through (even in your head) a couple of options, you are a little better prepared to deal with such an event.

Stay safe and in the immortal words of Red Green, remember, I’m pulling for ya!

Eric

There is a distinct set of special skills teachers bring to the table because teaching is not just mimicry and it is not something that can be scripted. Good, wholesome and honest teaching comes from both discerning knowledge and the empathic heart. It is truly higher calling and it demands far more than many will ever know. hashtag#teachers hashtag#teaching hashtag#knowledge hashtag#skills # hashtag#timetoteach