Branford Schools Plan Lockdown Drills for This Week

Each of the schools in the Branford School District will separately be participating in a lockdown drill by the end of the week. Members of the Branford Police Department will observe each of the drills.

"The purpose of these drills is to rehearse and get feedback on practices and procedures," said Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez. "If there are things we can improve from an infrastructure standpoint, we will seek funding to do that." 

Hernandez said Branford schools have been practicing these drills, along with the routine evacuation drills, for many years and they are often unannounced. However, in the wake of Sandy Hook, Hernandez and the administrative team chose to alert staff, students and parents prior to the upcoming drill.

"Being so close to what happened [in Newtown], we felt it was prudent to ensure that the parental community and other guardians were informed we were doing the drill," said Hernandez. "While we won't always announce these drills, we are hoping this announcement will lessen any anxiety that could have been caused."

A letter from the schools was sent to parents to notify them of the drill and included: "We will be working closely with our Superintendent of schools and the Branford Police Department to assess the effectiveness of our lockdown procedures. We plan to announce this drill to the school a few minutes prior to its occurrence to avoid worrying the staff or students."

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