Active Shooter Training Details Clarified By NSSD112 Officials

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — North Shore School District 112 administrators emphasized that an upcoming mandatory active shooter drill for students will not include any simulated shooting. Parents will be informed of the specifics ahead of any safety training, which will be led with age-appropriate language, according to district administrators.

In a letter to parents Monday, Deputy Superintendent Monica Schroeder explained the district had completed a two-day active shooter training program for school leadership, staff, teachers and local police. Principals and district leaders were certified to conduct future training in conjunction with police from Highwood and Highland Park.

Within 90 days of the start of the school year, Illinois law mandates that each school conduct an evacuation drill with law enforcement. It must involve students and take place at a regular school building, although administrators and staff may exempt certain students at their discretion. Passed last August, the law's chief sponsor was Sen. Julie Morrison, a Deerfield Democrat whose district includes Highland Park.

Schroeder said all staff will be trained on Oct. 15, an institute day with no students in attendance, before training with students. The staff training will use form balls and Nerf products to simulate active shooter situations, she noted. A follow-up letter sent Thursday by Assistant Superintendent Holly Collin clarified that the student training will not include any simulated violence or shooting.

At the board's Aug. 6 meeting, Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld presented board members with an update safety and security training.

"We're very sad and very proud. Sad that we have to do this," he said."Very proud that we're doing something proactively and very thoughtfully but very sad that we have to have this conversation at a school board meeting."

The district has been conducting audits of safety and security audits since 2014, according to Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld. The NSSD112 Safety and Security Committee has implemented improvement to camera systems, new security vestibules, entry controls and rapid emergency response.

In October 2018, the district formed a ALICE training partnership, he explained. The acronym for the copyrighted training method stands for "alert," "lockdown," "inform," "counter" and "evacuate." It is aimed at empowering people to take proactive steps in response to incidents of violence.

Previous protocol during violent incidents focused on the lockdown method, according to Lubelfeld. Studies by law enforcement and government agencies in recent decades have resulted in updates to best practices in such situations.

"The main takeaway for ALICE training: it increases the options for the adults in charge of children, in our context —in the event of a 'God forbid'-type of situation," the superintendent said. "We can now train our adults, equip our adults, empower our adults to use their judgement based on evidence-based methods that include methods other than only lockdown."

Lubelfeld said the concept of "counter" gets the most negative attention, explaining it is naturally more appropriate for the district's middle school students rather than those still in elementary schools. He said younger children would be told the "C" in ALICE was only for older students, while older students would learn appropriate situational strategies.

"You can break their concentration by screaming in their face, by throwing things at them and by swarming them," he said. "This appropriate for the oldest children. This is certainly not appropriate for our youngest children. This not a recommended action, this is an action of last resort."

The superintendent also said he has made the executive decision to permanently end the district's previous practice of holding unannounced drills. He said lawyers and school support staff for the district are making sure that administrators are in compliance with the law while not exposing children to any traumatic experience.

Watch the presentation at the Aug. 6, 2019, North Shore District 112 meeting: