New school crisis drills are planned
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, August 16th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The recent InterMountain Education Service District safety summit saw school officials and first responders focusing on relocating the students and reuniting them with their parents. Pendleton Superintendent Kevin Headings says the first step is figuring out if the district’s plans will work.
“We have good plans on paper,” he said. “You look at all of our processes and procedures and they are tight.”
Writing something out is one thing, but it’s practice that makes perfect.
“The only issue is, we’ve never really practiced it,” Headings said. “The question is, how do you practice that? We’re putting plans into place to do mock exercises.”
Details about those exercises will be released once they are finalized. Meanwhile, Headings said the district also has to work with parents, just in case.
“During an event, it’s a high-crisis time,” Headings said. “I’m a parent myself. You hear that something’s happening at your child’s school and right away your thoughts go to your child. I would go into panic mode.”
Headings said the district needs to work with parents on what not to do. He said parents should not go to the school, not call the school, and not call law enforcement. He advised they should keep their eyes on social media for the district and the school, and be alert to updates from area media.
“You never want something to happen, and most likely something won’t happen,” Headings said. “But in the event that it does, it’s very important to understand what everybody in the school’s role is, including the parents.”
