Castleton Elementary Families,
This morning (September 16) we held an unannounced lockdown drill at Castleton Elementary. It lasted approximately 25-30 minutes and was the first of four lockdown drills we must conduct annually in each district building. As a reminder, starting this year, the NYS Education Department requires school districts to notify families within one week before a safety drill occurs. Other than this general information, dates and times of lockdown drills will not be announced in advance so we can properly assess how prepared everyone is in the event of a real emergency. As in the past, we will continue sending messages like this to inform school families that a lockdown drill took place.
Lockdown Drills are announced over the PA system and are always clearly stated as drills. Everyone in the school then follows the lockdown protocols of staying out of sight, staying quiet and in a barricaded or locked area for the duration of the drill. Police officers then go around the school to inspect how well those protocols are being followed, taking note of what, if anything, could be improved. We practice these drills in the event of an active threat inside the building where evacuation would not be the safest option.
We also encourage you to use these drills as an opportunity to talk with your students about why they are important for us to hold and how they can help us during them by always taking them seriously and listening to our faculty/staff throughout.
Thank you to all of the police officers who assisted with this morning’s drill and to all our CES students and employees for their cooperation during it.