Green Bay East lockdown drill shows room for improvement
By: Millaine Wells
Updated: December 19, 2012
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - Local schools routinely practice lockdown procedures.
Wednesday Green Bay East opened that drill up to the media and parents.
"Looks like we are good on 2nd floor science and social studies wing" says Green Bay East Principal Ed Dorff.
He is making sure his staff and more than 1300 students are prepared for a lockdown.
"We are talking it through, we are letting them know that this is a learning time, it is not a time to heighten anxiety" Dorff says.
All parents were invited to attend, a handful participated.
"I know my kids are safe here but I just wanted to know the routine that they go through" says Doris Bethke, who has two children at Green Bay East.
The drill itself took just over ten minutes. It progressed from level two where class doors are locked and hallways cleared, to level three, where the school should appear empty.
"Are we seeing anybody, kids or staff? Are we hearing anything? Does it look like we want it to look? We want it to look like there is nobody there" says Dorff.
The drill did reveal some problems, students in one class were visible from the hallway.
Principal Dorff will troubleshoot with the teacher. "Is there a problem in the classroom, is there not space for kids?" he wondered.
Parents also had questions.
One asked why it took 50 minutes for her to be notified earlier this week when schools went on lockdown for real.
"Is there a way to expedite that to make the calls go quicker when they come out" she asked.
The district is working to speed up that process, however overall parents were impressed.
"Just being here and seeing what goes down really helps. You could hear a pin drop it was great" says Bethke.
East High has been on level three lockdown before, when police were searching for a suspect in the area believed to be armed.
This was the 2nd of three mock lockdowns Green Bay East will have this year.
All schools in the district follow similar plans.
