When it comes to intruder drills, Rockwood follows a program called 4E, which stands for educate, evade, escape and engage. Although intruder drills occur every year to ensure safety, Lafayette will have a drill highlighting the ‘escape’ aspect of the intruder procedure on Nov. 8, during 6th Hour.
“We usually do the evade aspect of intruder drills, so now we’re practicing the escape part,” Assistant Principal Tim Jones said. “We haven’t done them in a while because people were very anxious with COVID-19.”
Jones said the evacuation procedure could have multiple purposes. The last time Lafayette utilized it was when all classes gathered on the field in the Stadium to allow students to see the solar eclipse in 2017. But, Jones said recent school evacuations took place at Marquette and Eureka due to threats and gas leaks, respectively. Those events have encouraged Lafayette to consider practicing the evacuation procedure again.
“It’s helped encourage us to [practice escaping], so [we’re] proactive instead of reactive,” Jones said.
Associate Principal Michael Franklin said the evacuation drill will begin with Jones explaining the procedure on the intercom at the beginning of 6th Hour.
“We’ll be on the intercom for about five minutes into 6th Hour and explain what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Then teachers will go over the route that [their classes] will take,” he said.
While fire drills are also outdoor evacuations, Jones said the procedure for this type of evacuation is slightly varied.
“In the fire drill, we go to certain points right around the perimeter of the building, so we’re not going too far away [from the building]. On Nov. 7, [students] will exit out the [same] part of the building as the fire drill. Then, the whole school will go to the football field,” he said.
Jones said in a moment of crisis, procedures can look slightly different from the typical drills. Even if classrooms were to evacuate with the fire drill procedure, it could eventually lead to an evacuation to the football field depending on the situation.
“If there were a major fire or something in the building, we would move from our areas [in the parking lot] to the field after everybody evacuated the building,” he said.
Ultimately, Jones said the most important thing in an emergency is for students and staff to get out of the building as quickly as possible, wherever the evacuation spot may be.
