Teachers locked their children in classrooms when educational assistant Joanna Jones called a “Code Yellow” during a school safety drill Tuesday at Lascassas Elementary School.
Principal Randall Uptain and Assistant Principal Tina Maxwell and educational assistant Joanna Jones quickly checked to make sure doors were secured while bookkeeper Coreana Ward watched for visitors during the drill.
School Resource Officer Chad Dodson monitored the response. He explained a “Code Yellow” caution allows students and teachers to remain in the classroom and lock the doors.
“They did a great job,” Dodson said of the response by administrators, teachers and students.
During an earlier interview, SRO Sgt. Scott Culp said the SROs conducted safety drills this week in the Rutherford County Schools’ system. SROs work with the administrators, teachers and nurses to test the response.
SRO's work with the different schools in the county to perform the safety drills. One area of focus when working with the teachers, nurses and school administrators focuses on the possibility of an active shooter...
“The point of the drills is to see problems and address those,” Culp said of the drills. “Our ultimate goal is not to be a victim and to respond accordingly.”
SRO Kyle Grisham said drills allow the administrators and teacher to work through various scenarios at schools.
Some SROS train on safety out-of-state at the federal level and train remaining SROS to respond in the suggested federal level.
“This is something the SRO Division takes seriously,” Grisham said.
Scroll down for a past news story that includes soundbytes below...
Continued...
Note: The below story was reported on Sept. 16, 2021 - just before the safety drills took place.
Being a school resource officer has changed over the years and more than likely, what they train for in schools today, would not have been imaginable in the 1980's and perhaps not even in the early '90's.
Rutherford County School Resource Officer Scott Culp told WGNS News that SRO's will work with school safety teams along with teachers on the week of Sept 20th to prepart for safety drills. The following week, SRO's will work with teachers and students together to perform the safety drills. Some of the focus will be on the possibility of an active shooter...
Deputy Kyle Grisham said that SRO's are well trained for the worst possible scenario...
But, it's not just the fear of an active shooter that drives the heart of an SRO. It is also making a positive difference in the lives of students that may be struggling at home or in school. SRO Dustin Cox told WGNS NEWS...
Again, school safety drills will be held in Rutherford County Schools the week of September 27th.
