Schools may stage disaster

The idea would join school officials, students and police in learning what to expect and what to do in a crisis.

By SARAH SCHWEITZER and KATHRYN WEXLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 19, 2000

TAMPA -- Joining districts across the country, Hillsborough officials are exploring the idea of staging a mock school disaster to better prepare police and emergency officials for a shooting or other dangerous incident.

A few months ago Pinellas officials created a hostage scenario at a middle school, locking students in classrooms and having them wait while police secured the building.

In Hillsborough, plans for a drill are in the formative stages.

School officials, stressing that the exercise has no connection to the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo., last year, said the scenario could range from a hostage situation, to a student kidnapping, or even a tornado.

Police said they would benefit from acting out a crisis, one that would allow them to contend not only with a violent perpetrator but also the student pandemonium that would likely ensue in an actual situation. They envision the scenario unfolding in a high school.

"Any incident where you have chaotic crowds and collateral safety to worry about, you're going to need to do drills," said Tampa police Sgt. John Bennett, a SWAT team supervisor.

Pam Riley, the executive director of the Center for the Prevention of School Violence, said the steps Hillsborough is considering are ones she has been encouraging districts across the country to take.

"A crucial component of any emergency management plan is practice in order to be aware of things that might have been left out of the plan and to make sure (each person's) role is understood," Riley said.

Riley cautioned that while students should be involved in the drills to ensure realism, their involvement should be kept to a minimum to ensure as little trauma as possible.

Some Hillsborough School Board members agreed, saying any plan would have to ensure that students are dealt with sensitively and that parents are kept informed about the process.

Moreover, she said, students should have the option not to participate.

Doris Ross Reddick, another School Board member, said she supported the idea with reservation.

"I wouldn't want to plant any seeds in their heads, but I do think that we should be prepared just in case that such a thing should happen," she said.

Bennett said fears of copycat acts of violence are unrealistic. Students need to be taught how to avoid gunfire and find protection in the event of a stalker, and exercises like the one he proposes can help, he said.

"It's not going to make that shooter's job any easier," Bennett said.

But officers say the exercise would make their jobs easier.

The Hillsborough County sheriff's Emergency Response Team trained at an empty Durant High School last week, said Sgt. Ray Lawton, who heads the unit. He would like to simulate a massive violent event. Bennett said that following the Columbine incident, he toured almost all of the city's middle and high schools to educate faculty and school resource officers about taking cover during a shooting. He also took notes on the schools' layouts and got their blueprints.

School officials, law enforcement, emergency management officials and others are expected to meet Aug. 1 to talk about the shape of the plan. Linda Cobbe, a spokeswoman for the district, said an agreed drill would likely take place during the fall.

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