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Although much of the focus in returning to school has been on coronavirus precautions, the Creston Community School District has also been training staff on safety situations that have arisen in recent years.
New staff members at CCSD spent Thursday afternoon learning the basics of ALICE and participating in scenarios designed to mimic a real-life active shooter situation at the CCSD elementary/middle school building.
ALICE training stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.
Most active shooter situations are over within a few minutes, Eric Shawler of the Creston Police Department said.
During those first minutes, law enforcement are often not present so the Creston Community School is making sure that all school employees are trained in how to respond to a dangerous situation on school grounds.
School Resource Officer Mitch Pashek led the classroom portion of the training, saying police response to school shootings has come a long way since 1999’s Columbine shooting when two students shot and killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 others.
Shawler said law enforcement learns from each incident, but unfortunately, the shooters do, too. He cited the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University shooting in 2007 where the gunman was later found to have practiced shooting targets on the ground at a gun range. Authorities believe this was to simulate students hiding under desks.
Law enforcement now recommends a proactive response to dangerous situations. Due to safety concerns, the specific plans are confidential.
Training
The training included an interactive presentation by Pashek and Shawler, which discussed the need for training and some of the history of school shootings.
Pashek demonstrated how to interrupt a shooter’s concentration with videos asking participants to count dots flashing on the screen with increasing amounts of distracting noises and visual stimulation.
After the presentation, the staff was divided into groups and sent to classrooms for a simulation of an active shooter situation. Shawler and Pashek attempted to enter the rooms armed with airsoft pistols.
For each scenario, the staff was allowed to use greater amounts of resistance. At first, they were only allowed to hide. In later drills, staff was allowed to barricade the door and then evacuate.
This shows how training has evolved since Columbine — from telling students to hide under desks like they would for a tornado drill to the active response that is taught today.
High school counselor Angie Bolinger assisted in the training as well. She responded to questions from staff members who were concerned about following specific directions.
Bolinger said that ALICE training allows teachers and other staff members to make decisions based on the information they have at the time. An example of this would be if it doesn’t “feel right” to go to the designated rally point, a teacher could take their students in another direction that feels safer.
School property comes secondary to the safety of the students, Bolinger said.
“If you need to throw a computer through a window, you are not going to get in trouble,” she said.