By Patrick Baron
NORMAL – Safety and efficiency are the two main components of University High School’s reunification plan.
The school simulated that plan earlier today, moving over two hundred high school students from U-High to Redbird Arena where they were reunited with their parents shortly after. As Illinois State University Emergency Manager Eric Hodges explained, schools so frequently practice what to do during an emergency, they often don’t practice for what comes next.
“This is what would happen afterwards. Our industry – public safety – tends to do active shooter exercises a lot, but we don’t focus on those few hours afterwards,” said Hodges. “This exercise is not for public safety. It’s for the parents, the students, and the employees of the school.”
Hodges said the plan has been in the works for two years. Today’s exercise was the first time the school had practiced the procedure.
U-High Principal Andrea Markert said the exercise was meant to be as realistic as possible, with some students and faculty having roles to play.
“We have vision impaired students, we have hearing impaired students, for exercises today we put some students in wheelchairs, trying to just accommodate for everything,” Markert explained. “We have students that are going to pretend to have panic attacks.”
Following the drill, those who participated provided feedback to U-High administrators on how they felt the exercise went and how it can improve in the future.
Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].
