SPRING HILL, Fla. — Principals and other school administrators with the Hernando County School District took part in active shooter training ahead of the first day of classes August 13.
- Participants practiced barricading classroom doors
- Training took into account individuality of classrooms across district
- Training program cost covers 3 years of follow-up training, assessments
“For years, schools have focused only on a lockdown when we look at an active shooter-type threat," said Brad Spicer, CEO of Safe Plans, the company that conducted Wednesday's training. "A lockdown’s still a viable security tactic, but we just want to help them re-learn lockdowns so they understand it takes more than just a locked door."
After a morning of presentations and reviewing lessons learned from previous school shootings, teachers divided into different classrooms in Frank W. Springstead High School. Instructors told them to use whatever was at their disposal to barricade the rooms.
“Even within our individual schools, each classroom’s not the same," said D.S. Parrott Middle School Principal Ed LaRose.
The training takes that individuality into account. Administrators will take lessons learned during training to their own schools.
Safe Plans instructors will also visit each building next week to train teachers and help develop safety plans unique to each building and classroom.
“Site-specific is the most important thing for me - that every school is going to have their own training and their own, unique situations they face," said Interim Superintendent John Stratton.
“At least if we’re consistent and we walk through those unusual scenarios in school, not the perfect opportunity to run a drill, but the imperfect opportunity to run a drill, because sometimes that’s when those mass disasters happen," said LaRose.
The district has conducted safety training before, but this is the first time they've contracted with Safe Plans. Stratton said the $233,000 program covers three years of follow-up training and assessments.