Winchester, MA
While schools in today’s world are susceptible to dangerous situations, Pam Saba, Muraco Elementary School assistant principal and co-chairman of the school department’s Incident Management Team, said the town is always preparing and ready for an incident should one arise. “We are always looking at what our safety policies are, what is new, what federal recommendations are coming and how we can make things safer and better,” said Saba. “We make sure everything is in place and working.” A few years ago, the Incident Management Team received certification in the Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate program. The ALICE program was designed as a result of a federal government study of gun violence in schools. The plan encourages action in the form of loud noises, movement, barricading classroom doors, and unpredictability in order to disrupt an intruder, as opposed to hiding, sitting on the floor or waiting for help to arrive. Read more
