Mount Douglas students schooled in lockdown drill

Students at Mount Douglas Secondary School took part in a lockdown drill Monday, an exercise that comes with extra urgency since the Feb. 14 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High in Parkdale, Florida in which 17 students were killed.

“Different people have different thoughts about differences between the U.S. and Canada,” said Mount Douglas principal Shawn Boulding. “Certainly some of the more disturbing events have happened south of the border. But none of us are naive enough to think it can’t happen here.”

The lockdown was conducted differently than past drills. Instead of interrupting class time, the alarm went off between classes, meaning students had to find their own way to a safe spot.

“They were more on their own and less under the direct supervision of a teacher,” said Boulding, who is a member of a committee of school officials and police that looks at emergency responses and routines.

Lockdown drills prepare for the possibility of a dangerous person entering the school.

Another drill practises for when someone dangerous is outside the building, in which case doors are locked.

On Monday, about 1,200 students made their way to classrooms or other nearby hiding spots. If that was a bathroom, they were expected to take refuge in a stall and stand on the toilet so their feet would not give them away.

Once inside a hiding spot, they were expected to conceal themselves and not answer any knocks. Police officers from the schoolliaison unit and teachers walked the halls, testing doors and knocking to make sure nobody responded.

Also new on Monday was a mass debriefing in the gymnasium for students and teachers, where issues were raised.

Where is the safest spot to hide in a classroom? What happens if there are more students taking refuge in a bathroom than there are stalls?

Boulding said many questions don’t have right or wrong answers.

But it’s hoped students and teachers become better prepared after considering problems and discussing solutions, like having two people standing on the same toilet.

Boulding has been involved in two real lockdowns, initiated because of perceived threats, one at Central Middle School and the other at Oak Bay High School. Both ended without incident.

He said that there is the need to be prepared, no matter what the situation, pointing out that he has also taken part in countless fire drills and earthquake alarms without experiencing either emergency in real life.