Unannounced Safety Drill Held At Bridgewater-Raritan High School

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — An unannounced safety drill was conducted at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School on Wednesday morning, Superintendent Russell Lazovick announced.

"For this reason, students and staff may have observed more emergency personnel than usual on campus during today’s drill," Lazovick wrote in a letter to parents. "Be assured that this is not due to any specific concerns. The department regularly runs these drills to help schools proactively assess preparedness."

The drill was conducted by members of the New Jersey Department of Education’s Office of School Preparedness and Emergency Planning.

Along with school administrators, law enforcement officers with special training in school safety visited the district to observe drills and provide technical feedback.

The officers work collaboratively with local and county law enforcement and also with the New Jersey State Police, New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.

"We want everyone to be aware that the NJDOE requires that these drills be unannounced as they want to observe a genuine response to a drill. Again, today’s drill was not in response to any specific issue. It was an opportunity to receive valuable feedback on our preparedness and response protocols which will inform our ongoing work to provide the safest environments for our students and our staff," Lazovick said.

(Image via Google Maps: Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School)

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.