School district to unveil ALICE to community

The Shawano School District will go public Tuesday with its new options-based plan for lockdown procedures at an informational meeting geared to parents, guardians and community members.

The district recently adopted a policy that would change the way schools respond to emergency situations such as an armed intruder entering a school building.

Previous lockdown procedures involved the staff locking their doors, moving the students to a part of the room where they could not be seen, and quietly remaining there until an “all clear” announcement was given.

Officials say that response is too limited.

“We have the ability to use different options to be safe,” Shawano Community High School Principal Scott Zwirschitz said.

The new policy relies on a program known as ALICE, which is an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.

Lockdown is still an option, but with the added initiative of barricading the door if there’s no way out.

In cases where evacuation isn’t possible, the ALICE model promotes the “counter” option, which could include anything from distracting the shooter by throwing things at him to swarming over him and taking him down.

ALICE will be implemented in all Shawano School District buildings this year.

All Shawano School District staff have received training on the concepts. School principals will guide their staff in providing the training and implementation of the plan to students with the assistance of Shawano Resource Officer Jody Johnson and other members of the Shawano Police Department.

Zwirschitz said those concepts would be shared with students in an appropriate way depending on their age.

“Ultimately, informing the students is where it gets tricky,” he said, noting there would obviously have to be a difference in how high school students are informed versus those in the lower elementary grades.

The district wants parents and guardians to be aware of the policy first.

“We want the community to be aware; then we’ll go to the students,” Zwirschitz said.

The meeting Tuesday will include an overview and presentation of the ALICE procedures and time for parental and community questions and input.

A letter to parents and guardians about the meeting went out earlier this month.

“Our students need to be reminded of safe practices in order for them to make good decisions related to personal safety,” the letter stated. “Children need to know that there are many solutions and options when faced with a problem. Empowering our children to have options is an important key to a safe and positive outcome when facing a crisis.”

School officials will meet with Shawano police Oct. 3 at a safety committee meeting to discuss a plan for informing students about the ALICE program.