Teachers prepare for a real-life scenario they will, hopefully, never have to endure.

Organized by the Kentucky State Police, teachers and administration will be taking part in a training drill to be better equipped to handle an active shooting. Being in the works for a long amount of time, the drill will simulate the event of a real-life shooting and incorporate tips and instructions to prepare teachers. Bullitt East will join other schools in the district, such as Crossroads Elementary, on April 9th in organizing the drill.

The training begins with state police going through instructional powerpoints and presenting research to further educate teachers and staff on the logistics of school shootings as a whole. The active simulation includes sounds of gunshots in hallways and everything that comes along with an active shooter being in the building. “They (police) analyze the reaction to it and then help us ask the questions we need to and answer them in order to be ready should something like that happen,” said Kari Stewart.

Active shooter training has been in the works since last summer, long before recent tragic events. District administration recently took part in the simulation and it is time Bullitt East administration gives it a go. Tim Ridley, having previously gone through the simulation, believes the training will give staff a realistic idea of what to do in the situation. “Even though you know it’s a training, it still kind of feels real because you hear it and experience it,” said Ridley.

With new research done and facts being presented, the protocol for school shooting safety has been changed. The common hard lockdown procedure is to turn the lights off and hide everybody in the corner, but new ideas have been brought to the table. Now, it is advised for everyone in a room to spread out. These ideas changing has altered Ridley’s perspective on school safety because it is a real issue.

Several years ago, an active shooting simulation was organized at Eastside Middle School to any student in the district that wanted to participate. “I think something like that should be brought back because that could help educate the students and make it more of a reality,” said Alyssa Pilkerton. Not only do teachers need to be properly educated, students do as well. Ridley believes students should also receive similar training, however, there is a safety issue due to firing actual blanks.

Student safety is a very prevalent issue, and some think students could benefit from more training.  “I think a lot of students don’t realize something like this could actually happen and we need to be prepared and know what to do so I think something should be organized where students can participate in training,” said Pilkerton. “I also think we should do hard lockdowns more often to prepare students and get them more familiar with the idea,” said Pilkerton.