Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Panel Recommends More Realistic Shooter Drills
The commission investigating last year’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has recommended that public schools should have more realistic active-shooter drills.
The 15-member Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission is composed of law enforcement, education and mental health professionals, a state legislator, Commissioner Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex died in the February 14, 2018, attack and another father who lost children in the attack.
According to a news report, the commission recommended that each school has four active-shooter drills per year and that each is unique so teachers and students have to react to the situation presented. The drills might include fleeing, locking down inside a classroom or hiding, it said.
Most schools were just doing lockdown drills and some were just reminding students what they should do in case of a shooting, the report said. School administrators would have to file a report within 30 days of a drill outlining any problems and a sworn police officer would have to be present during the drill if the recommendation is adopted.
The commission also recommended that private firms are not used to train the armed civilian guardians it is using at some charter schools. Under Florida law said the report, all public schools must have either a police officer, a dedicated guard employed by the district or armed employees on campus while classes are in session.
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