On Feb. 18, students at Middletown High School were told to stay in classrooms and secure their doors because a “lock-down” was in progress. Meant to simulate a real lock-down situation, some felt that locking the door and boarding up the windows with black sheets of paper was not sufficient.
“I think that the idea of the lock-down was a good idea, but I don’t think many people took it as seriously as they should have,” said MHS junior Sarah Benfield.
Teachers were instructed to close and lock doors, pull all blinds, place black paper over other exposed windows and halt all teaching.
A specific colored card was to be placed under doors labeling the state of safety in the classroom. A green card means that all is well in the room. A yellow card means that assistance is needed but, is not urgent (a student is in need of medicine within a few hours, someone is vomiting, but it is under control). And a red card means that immediate assistance is needed (broken bone, injured and bleeding, immediate medical assistance or medication needed).
Thankfully, the only lockdown situation that has ever occurred at Middletown is when the drug dogs have been on the premises inspecting for illegal substances.
“It’s important to know what to do incase anything like a real lock-down ever happens,” said Middletown High School Assistant Principal Donna Clabaugh.
A lock-down would only truly occur if a suspicious person was roaming school grounds or a thorough investigation showed they could be dangerous.
“If something serious were to really happen, students and staff are instructed to go into the nearest classroom, close the doors and windows, and turn off the lights,” said Clabaugh. “As soon as the police or law enforcement arrived, they would take over.”
Portables pose a problem for those teaching and learning in them. Many wonder if a portable would be as safe as a classroom in the school.
“Students should stay in portables and perform all required procedures. A decision will be made of either bringing students in or not, depending on the danger level,” said Clabaugh.
The lock-down turned out to be a success.
“Everything overall went well. Some teachers didn’t put their cards under their doors and some lights remained on, but everything pretty much went well,” said Clabaugh.
“In some classrooms the blinds weren’t completely covering the windows which could cause a problem. We just want our students and staff to be safe,” she said.
The only question remaining now is whether or not we will have another one.
“We will be having another one but we will not be notifying staff,” said Clabaugh. “We are required to have at least ten drills a year so between this and monthly fire drills, we will be having another.”