SPS conducts Lock Down drill

Sutton Public School, with direction and assistance from Sutton Police officers, conducted a Lock Down drill Thursday, March 13.

As soon as an announcement came over the loudspeaker, the drill began and suddenly the usually bustling school became quiet and lights were turned off in all offices and classrooms.

Sutton officers Edgar Sandoval and Tracey Landenberger, Harvard officers Wayne Alley and Cristhian Gabriel, and Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy Kreighton Baxter then walked around the high school and elementary sides, checking to make sure all doors were locked and no students or staff could be seen.

Though no one wants to see it happen in schools, the possibility of an active shooter entering a school has become a common reality, which is why the drill was conducted— to keep students and staff safe.

While Sandoval and Baxter checked the high school side with SPS Superintendent Brad Best, Landenberger, Alley, and Gabriel checked the elementary side with SPS Elementary Principal Michael Shively.

“It’s good to do this and get all of the kinks out,” Shively said.

While checking rooms, Landenberger, Alley, and Gabriel walked into some rooms to look around to see if where students/staff were hiding would be the best place in this situation.

After checking rooms they talked about better places for students to hide so that they’re farther from the door.

Gabriel added how it seemed in most shootings the shooter takes a couple of steps into a room before moving on to the next, so finding an area away from the entry would be best.

They also talked about making sure any windows that can be used to see into classrooms should be covered, along with the doors being locked and lights turned out.

After they checked all of the doors, Best and Shively went around to each room announcing the drill was over.

Following the drill, the officers and administration did a debriefing, discussing a possible full-scale drill in the future.

Sandoval mentioned reaching out to Harvard Public School and seeing what they do for these situations, as HPS’s plans work well.

“It’s kind of seamless and helps expedite things,” he said.

In terms of a full-scale drill that includes reunification, Landenberger added the reunification can be as simple as getting students on a bus, just so everyone will know what’s going on and how things will work.

In the end, county officers on each department would like to reach a goal of all the schools being on the same page of how these types of situations will be handled, all while keeping those in the school safe.