Needham Schools Introduce New Lockdown Protocol

Needham’s public schools are taking steps to ensure the safety of their students.

Needham Public School Director of Human Resources Tom Campbell presented a set of new school lockdown safety protocols entitled ALICE to Needham’s School Committee on Jan. 5, reports Wicked Local Needham. The acronym stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. The program has been implemented in schools across the country.

Wicked Local Needham reports:

“The new protocol, meant to be a plan of action during an immediate threat, is a response to studies of trends in violence around the country. It is an attempt to prevent shootings such as those at Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook. ALICE has been considered or implemented by schools throughout the country, though not without controversy since it suggests students fight back against active and make themselves harder to get.”

The report suggests that this program could come to other schools in the area in the future and that training programs have already begun in Needham’s schools.

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