Each year, school districts in New York State are required to review and update their plans for safety and security in case of an emergency; school boards must hold public hearings on emergency preparedness, weigh the changes, approve the plans, and file them with the state by Oct. 1.
We learned last week during a public hearing that the Springs School District is proposing a change to its safety plan regarding lockdown drills. In the past, according to Nancy Carney, the superintendent, students sometimes got confused and upset, not knowing for sure whether they were participating in a drill or responding to a real-life emergency.
The district’s new approach is to hold drills in a more sensitive way — specifically, in a “trauma-informed, developmentally and age-appropriate” manner. Lockdown drills will also now be announced ahead of time. The updated plan is posted on the district website for review and comment by parents and community members over the next few days, and is slated for approval by the school board on Sept. 10.
We think this is a smart and necessary change in protocol, striking a balance between emergency preparedness and students’ mental health.
Underlying all of this, of course, is the deadly and dire national disaster of our inaction on gun control. We can’t force Congress from afar to finally take action to genuinely protect children in schools, by improving background checks or banning civilians from buying assault weapons, but lockdown drills? Changing emergency-drill protocol is a small step to mitigate the harm of gun culture, and it is under local control. It’s good common sense, and we believe other schools should follow in Springs School’s footsteps.