This year for the first time, educators, administrators and staff in both the Mountain View-Los Altos and Mountain View Whisman school districts attended training in emergency preparedness befitting a post-Columbine world.
Staff ran through official procedures and safety precautions, labeled “Code Red,” designed in response to an active shooter loose on school grounds. In such a scenario, a school would go into automatic lockdown mode — which includes the construction of classroom barricades by teachers and students — and await police response.
MV Whisman conducted the training, which is not mandatory by law, during its Staff Development Day on Sept. 1; MVLA did the same on its Aug. 21 District Kick-Off.
Carla Holtzclaw, a representative hired from Code Red Training Associates, Inc., joined Mountain View and Los Altos police officers in providing detailed instructions to the educators.
Staff learned that, in the event that they are inside with students and without a safe exit, they need to construct a barricade out of anything available in the classroom and place one of two cards, either red or green, under the outside door. A red card tells patrolling officers or staff that immediate assistance is needed, while green indicates that the classroom is safe. These cards are kept in a backpack that remains in the classroom at all times.
Additionally, staff should open their e-mail accounts to receive any information from other teachers, administrators or the police.
The training also provided instruction on how to employ anti-anxiety exercises like breathing on a four-count, playing simple mental games and having students occupy their time by writing down witness accounts if they might have seen the shooter.
Holtzclaw explained that remaining calm is an essential practice because teachers must be able “to manage classrooms in extreme anxiety” before police arrive on the scene.
Staff and students who are outside when a code red alert occurs should run for cover in a zigzag pattern so that they aren’t viewed “as a standing target by a shooter,” MV Whisman executive assistant Kathi Lilga explained.
Lilga, who helped organize the training at MV Whisman, also explained how students and staff must ready themselves by holding their hands behind their heads and removing bulky jackets and sweatshirts because “police officers want to see a waistline.” An officer demonstrated to staff how he was able to conceal five guns in his pants while wearing oversized clothing.
The participation of both the Mountain View and Los Altos police departments is integral to the success of the emergency plan. MVPD Captain Bruce Barsi, who manages the Field Operations Division and the School Resource Officers, said in a statement, “When people know what to do in an emergency and they don’t panic, the likelihood of a positive outcome increases significantly. The police are much better able to handle such an incident when there is a solid procedure in place and everyone is trained to follow it.”
To enact the training, the Silicon Valley Safe Schools Consortium, which includes more than 75 schools in the Sunnyvale and Santa Clara Unified school districts as well as law enforcement and emergency agencies, applied for and received a grant from the federal Emergency Response and Crisis Management program. Holtzclaw was hired to implement the curriculum, which she had helped to create.
“There is a very unique partnership between schools and the police department,” Holtzclaw explained.
After Columbine, Holtzclaw studied emergency simulations and found that “schools knew nothing” about dealing with a code red situation. Most schools in Santa Clara County are on board, she reported, and plan to begin yearly drills that will involve the student body as well.
For now, teachers will take what they learned back to their classrooms to share with students. Maurice Ghysels, MV Whisman’s superintendent, said in an e-mail to the Voice that he is “very impressed with our teachers and support staff who took this training so seriously.”
E-mail Alexa Tondreau at atondreau@mv-voice.com
