Savannah-Chatham schools prepare for active shooting through trainings, school safety plans

Gun shots are heard and an announcement is made over the intercom to tell people to take cover. They run and scream before police arrive to assess the situation, as others continue to run for safety.

After a few minutes, a person is taken into custody.

No, there isn't a high alert situation at a Savannah-Chatham school on Thursday, but the district was preparing in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Tulsa, and a mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

As part of a mini-safety conference, SCCPSS school administrators, Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools System Police Department and Savannah Police Department participated in an active shooter training at STEM Academy at Bartlett on Thursday.

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The purpose of the training was to prepare school leaders in how they'll need to react during an active shooter situation. Schools are on break, so no children participated in the training. The roles of students and teachers were played by administrators.

Attendees of the conference also had discussions about drugs in schools and how to handle social media threats. "Today is to really put them in the seat of an educator (as well as) the student," said Kurt Hetager, SCCPSS chief public affairs and administrative officer.

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On May 24, 18 year-old Salvador Ramos went into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 children. Before coming to the school, Ramos shot and killed his grandmother. Ramos was later killed by border patrol agent, which ended the shooting.

That tragedy was the deadliest shooting to take place at a grade school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.

STEM Academy at Bartlett principal Jimmy Cave said school safety has become another responsibility school leaders are tasked with besides educating students. "Now that it's something we are faced with in our community, we have to address it because we have to make sure our children are safe."

Georgia statewide school safety plans

According to Georgia Department of Education communications director Meghan Frick, it is required that school districts develop a school safety plan. She said school districts also receives guidance from the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMS/HS). The law is is stated in Georgia code (OCGA 20-2-1185).

The plans have to address natural disasters, hazardous materials, transportation concerns, weapons, potential terrorist activities and school shootings.

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The school safety plans must include input from students, parents, guardians, teachers, community leaders, school district employees and local law enforcement. The plans also have to offer school safety trainings for students, teachers and school staff.

The school safety plans must be submitted and approved by local emergency management and law enforcement agencies. GEMA/HS doesn't enforce the safety plans, but the agency is more of a guidance for local school districts.

Savannah-Chatham active shooter alert system

Justin Pratt, SCCPSS emergency manager and school security coordinator, said each school has an alert system if an active shooter situation does take place. He said someone in the school will push a button.

"When someone pushes the button, it simultaneously and immediately notifies campus police that there's an event happening," Pratt said.

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Next, an announcement is made over the intercom and first responders are notified. Pratt said at that point, emergency protocols and procedures are established. He added that if an active shooter situation is taking place, a school resource officer (SRO) would try to neutralize the shooter or intruder.

A critical incident like an active shooting would require help from the Savannah Police Department, Chatham County Police Department and other local emergency response agencies. "So once that notification goes out, the resource officer will respond to the incident, outside law enforcement, fire, EMS, Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and all the other partners in the county that would respond," he said.

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Pratt said during an active shooter situation, all schools would be placed on lockdown as a precaution.

The district has three lockdown levels

• A level one lockdown involves an external threat to a school, such as a nearby police activity.

• A level two lockdown means a situating is transpiring inside a school but does not pose a threat to the entire campus. An example would be a person in the building being verbally upset and threatening.

• A level three lockdown affects the entire campus, such as an active shooter or a person threatening a school with a weapon.

An active shooter situation would be a level three lockdown.

Savannah law enforcement training in action

Pratt said various school safety trainings are held for teachers, students and staff throughout the school year. One of those trainings is Civilian Response to Active Shooter Emergencies (CRASE). Pratt said the continual training teaches district staff the avoid, deny and defend protocol during an active shooter situation.

"The first line of defense is getting out. If you can get away from the situation, get out of the building, move away from the threat, then do that."

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Pratt said students and staff at each school participate in crisis exercises and once-a-year active shooter trainings." One is set up as a discussion with the staff while the other involves students and walks them through where they would go during the situation.

Additional training is also held for SROs and school safety officers (SSO) on tactics such as how to enter a building effectively, how to engage and neutralize a shooter and how to have discussions with outside law enforcement agencies.

The district has 74 SRO officers throughout the district.

Pratt said SROs and SSOs have different job duties. SSOs handle a school's day-to-day operations such as watching school cameras and guarding a school's entrance, but SROs operate like a police officer and carry guns.

Other ways to be safe

SCCPSS currently has safety measures in place at their schools such as metal detectors at each school, monitoring social media threats, Sandy Hook Promise, and Say Something Do Something. But district officials say more are coming.

Using money from the American Rescue Plan, the district plans to update its security measures like hiring new police officers.

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"I feel that we're fully prepared, and I feel that our schools are safe, but there is always a human factor in place, and it is something that we have to look at," Pratt said.

The district's chief of police Terry Enoch said the purpose of the conference is to make sure students and staff are safe, while having prevention measures in place to make sure what happened in Texas doesn't happen here.

"We're always looking at ways to strengthen our security plans and do things better, constantly watching what's happening not only externally, but we're looking at what's happening internally and the way we can improve security in schools."

Bianca Moorman is the education reporter. Reach her at BMoorman@gannett.com or 912-239-7706. Find her on Twitter @biancarmoorman. 

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham public schools perform active shooting drills