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By Chris Hardman, Ph.D.
Safety drills for K-12 schools across the country employ different moving parts, often determined by requirement, size of the school, time of the day, annual testing, and the level of importance placed upon them by administrators.
These drills are an integral part of a school’s safety protocol, ensuring that students, staff, and emergency responders are equipped to handle emergencies on campus. Regular drills also instill a sense of confidence and preparedness in the school community. By simulating real-life scenarios, schools can identify areas of improvement and ensure that everyone knows their role during a crisis.
Effective drill management requires proactive planning to ensure the greatest impact on your emergency response. In consideration of annual drills in the K-12 environment, here are a few helpful things to remember.
School Safety Drill Checklist
- Plan your drills. This sounds simplistic, but ensuring your drills are planned throughout the year provides clarity for administrators and allows other events to be scheduled around drills so that required safety measures remain in compliance.
Scheduling drills in advance helps ensure staff and external participants—such as first responders—are aware of upcoming drills. This makes sures everyone has information needed to get on the same page prior to the drill and results in more people being able to participate.
Every state has safety drill requirements for schools. It can be incredibly tedious to schedule these drills across your entire district. Raptor streamlines this process by giving districts the power to create one drill schedule and share it throughout the district.
- Account for students with special needs. Most schools are home to members of the student body who require accommodations. Drills must be conducted in a way this special population of students is neither overly stimulated by the drills, nor placed at a physical disadvantage when moving around, or out of, the building.
- Prepare for the day of the drill. On the day of the drill, make sure that any staff members who have specific roles or functions are aware of what those may be. Communicate the time of the drill to the people you want to remind and confirm that employees like custodial and cafeteria staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities.
With Raptor Drill Manager, assigned school staff automatically receive a notification prior to each drill. This reminder helps schools stay in compliance with the drill schedule. - Have a plan to account for visitors and substitute teachers. Drill protocols are often contained to students and staff who are regularly in the building. But drills, just like real-life incidents, carry with them the unexpected. You may have visitors or substitute teachers, who are in the building at the time of the drill and are not aware of your school’s policy. It is vitally important that they know what to do in the event of an emergency, or that there is at least a staff member who can guide them. It is also critical that they are accounted for when ensuring all school occupants are safe.
Because Raptor Visitor Management integrates with Raptor Emergency Management, schools can confidently account for everyone on campus during an emergency. This integration enables you to account for every visitor (including contractors, volunteers, vendors, substitutes, guardians, and others) who signed into the visitor management system. And you’ll instantly know if any students were dismissed before the emergency was initiated. - Invite stakeholders and first responders to your drills. In the event of a true emergency, your law enforcement partners, fire department, EMA, and medical personnel will be on campus. When these first responders make their initial visit to the school, it should not be for an actual emergency.
Drills are a perfect environment in which to familiarize outside agencies with both drill protocols, and the logistics of the campus. Involving outside agencies in drills also offers the opportunity to build relationships and strengthen the overall safety profile of your school and district.Scheduling drills in advance helps ensure staff and external participants—such as first responders—are aware of upcoming drills. This makes sures everyone has information needed to get on the same page prior to the drill and results in more people being able to participate.
You can find additional strategies for coordinating your school’s safety protocols with emergency responders in Raptor’s free guide.
- Though planned, do not become rote in drill execution. Although the drills represent a controlled environment, take advantage of the opportunity for the drill to initiate with different employees, and from different locations across campus. If you typically have a front desk employee announce drills over the intercom, staff and students will become use to this procedure and it will make them less adaptable for when circumstances inevitably change. Make your drills slightly more dynamic by having teachers initiate drills from both inside and outside the building and rotate this responsibility in order to keep them thinking and acting in a proactive manner.
“I want to commend your teachers and administrators at Robinson Elementary for their expert execution of a fire drill that I observed. Today, I saw the most organized and well-run drill that I’ve ever seen in my many years as a fire Marshall. I watched students that knew exactly what to do and where to go, and teachers and administrators that moved quickly and calmly to secure the students out of the building. I then observed the teachers taking role of students on their phones and was curious… “What are they doing?” I asked several questions about the system and what it was capable of including notifications, accountability, and reunification. The staff was beaming with pride in how fast they had assembled students and accurately accounted for them. I normally witness complaining and general apathy when drills are conducted. This was not the case today. I commend your staff for a job well done!“ Robinson, TX Fire Marshall
- Take the time to recap. A brief after-action meeting provides value to all drill participants. Simple logistical matters can be addressed and improved on. These meetings also allow staff to communicate their experiences and provide valuable feedback to administrators. It is also recommended that visiting first responders participate in these meetings.
Safety hinges not just on how well you conduct your drills but what you learn from them. Analyzing drill performance to understand gaps and weaknesses can help improve outcomes, yet this requires time and visibility to accurate data. Raptor provides this data in a visual dashboard, allowing you to quickly see performance metrics per drill or school and throughout the district.
Be prepared for any emergency with Raptor
Regular safety drills play a crucial role in ensuring preparedness for unexpected emergencies. From meticulous planning to post-drill evaluations, every step is vital. It’s essential to keep drills dynamic, involve all stakeholders, and continuously adapt based on feedback.
While scheduling and managing drills can be a complex task, the ultimate goal remains clear: to protect every child, every school, every day.
Raptor can help. Schedule a demo.
Chris Hardman, Ph.D.
Dr. Chris Hardman has extensive experience in both law enforcement and K-12 safety and security. Before joining Raptor, he received his Ph.D. in Adult Education from Auburn University with a dissertation exploring public education employees’ perceptions of School Resource Officers (SROs). He resides with his children in Auburn, AL where he loves cheering on Auburn University football and basketball with his son as well as watching his oldest daughter march in the high school band and his youngest daughter play volleyball.
Related Resources
Guide to K-12 Emergency Management
Proven strategies to protect your school.
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