Jeannette School District- Jeannette, PA
The Jeannette School District is updating its emergency operations plan, including new training for teachers and, eventually, running drills for students based on potential emergencies that could happen in each building. The plan will “rewire our whole emergency planning based on new training and information,” said Matt Jones, Director of K-8 Education and middle school principal. This year, Jones, Jim Raible, assistant middle school principal, Cpl. Chris Mason, school resource officer, and Shannon Binda, Jeannette Police Chief, went to ALICE Training and are now certified instructors in its methods. “In our district, we’ll teach a common sense approach to reacting,” said Jones, using the example of an active shooter scenario. The word “options” is key. It means that all teachers are not bound to one reaction, but can evaluate each situation and respond accordingly. “Our goal would be to do a large-scale drill to start the 2016-17 school year,” Jones said. Paul Shifko, a seventh-grade language arts teacher, has taken on an active role in the committee. “ALICE training “has taught us common sense ways to deal with a crisis situation that are completely different from the outdated response to simply lock down the classrooms and wait,” said Shifko. Read more
