RSU 22 details districtwide safety plan and schedules full-scale drill at Hampton Academy

Britney Layman, RSU 22 director of health, wellness and safety, told the school board that the district is shifting its safety planning to FEMA language and will run a multiagency active-shooter exercise at Hampton Academy on Aug. 14.

Layman said the district's approach follows five FEMA-derived functions: “prevent, protect, mitigate, respond, and recover” and that RSU 22 uses the I Love You Guys standard response protocol (SRP) as its operational model for building lockdowns, evacuations and reunification. Layman said the Aug. 14 event will be a scripted, controlled exercise intended to test reunification and incident command procedures, and will involve local and regional public-safety partners — with observers from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security expected to attend. She said the campus will be closed that day because of the law-enforcement presence.

Why it matters: Layman told the board this kind of rehearsal aims to expose logistical choke points in reunification and evacuation plans so the district can revise maps, communications and staffing before the school year begins. She framed the training as a way to reduce confusion and emotional harm in a real emergency: staff will practice, learn and conduct after-action reviews to improve future responses.

Key details: Layman said RSU 22 is adopting several technology and training upgrades. The district has updated its PA and camera systems and plans to deploy a Syntegix crisis-alert badge that staff can tap three times to summon help; repeated taps will place a building into lockdown. Layman said, “If you push it as much as you can, that will put your building into lockdown.” She cited Bangor and Yarmouth as other districts using the Syntegix system. The district also uses an SRO in Camden Academy and is pursuing renewed SRO coverage for Winterport.

Layman described other prevention efforts: a district behavioral threat-assessment team, digital threat-assessment training for staff, trauma-informed recovery planning and ongoing drills required by law. She said RSU 22 participates in a Waldo County school-safety task force and uses the Incident Command System (ICS) language (ICS 100/200/700/800) so public-safety and school staff share a common operational vocabulary.

Board questions and discipline: Board members asked why the Aug. 14 drill would exclude students; Layman replied that full-scale active-shooter simulations can be traumatizing for children and that staff volunteers will play roles in a controlled environment. She also said new hires receive a safety orientation in August and building principals provide building-level briefings; district- and building-level safety teams meet monthly.

Limitations and next steps: Layman said the district does not monitor camera feeds in real time but can review footage after events. She said some work remains on digital-threat assessment tools and that the Syntegix rollout will involve updating building maps and training staff.

Layman closed by describing the work as a way to keep students and staff able to learn and to recover faster after adverse events. "We do this so that these kids can come to school and feel safe," she said.