Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Shawano Police Lt. Brad Rabideau (in safety vest) explains a scenario that participants will act out and the options available to them during an active shooter drill Tuesday at Shawano Community High School.
Confident. Hopeful. Empowered.
Those were some of the words participants used Tuesday after a drill that gave them a chance to use some of the options they learned to deal with an active shooter.
More than 60 people took part in several scenarios at Shawano Community High School acting out the school district’s new policy that changes the way schools respond to emergency situations, such as an armed intruder entering a school building.
Participants included representatives from several area day cares, the Department of Community Programs, county employees and some substitute teachers.
“It’s exciting to know we have this many people in our community that are interested in the safety of our kids,” SCHS Principal Scott Zwirschitz said.
The district’s previous policy was to go into lockdown, which 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.
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.
Participants were split into three groups for Tuesday’s drills.
Zwirschitz, on loudspeaker, announced a shooter in the school building. Participants locked the doors and shut the lights off.
The first scenario called for them to use only the old policy of lockdown, though one group barricaded the door, anyway.
Police Capt. Jeff Heffernon, playing the role of the shooter, entered all three rooms in quick succession, firing off a mock, plastic gun at participants who cowered on the floor.
At least 12 participants were “shot” under that scenario.
Participants said they felt “helpless,” and “like sitting ducks.”
Another scenario called for participants to use the counter option.
They swarmed over Heffernon as soon as he was in the door. Though he continued to fire, no one was “shot” under that scenario.
ALICE will be implemented in all Shawano School District buildings this year.
All 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 School Resource Officer Jody Johnson and other members of the Shawano Police Department.
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.
Zwirschitz said those concepts would be shared with students in an appropriate way depending on their age.