By: Vaericia Meno
The Wallenpaupack Area School Districts yearly code red drill was conducted on October 1 by the WAHS new principal, Mr. Travis Ey. The Pennsylvania mandated school security required schools to have security drills, including “Code Red” or lockdown drills, during the 2018-2019 school year. Before this requirement, many schools around the country already had safety procedures because of events like the Columbine school shooting in 1999 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
If there was an active threat at our school, we have procedures that allow an announcement to be over the PA system telling everyone that the school is in a Code Red. These processes are reviewed with the staff every year during the October faculty meeting. If our school were put into a lockdown, parents would be notified by the school district through the PowerSchool messaging system. This year’s Code Red drill had gone smoothly, and we did not have any major problems. After the drill, the administrators review how everything went, and they give staff feedback if anything needs to be changed or improved. When asked, “As the new principal what is your opinion about your first code red drill?” Mr. Ey responded with “I believe we ran the Code Red drill as smoothly and efficiently as we can. It is important to communicate information prior to the drill, so everyone who participates has a chance to review procedures before the drill takes place.”
