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District schedules countywide active‑shooter drill on Oct. 31; no students on site
Summary
The junior high principal told the board the district will host an active‑shooter drill Oct. 31 coordinated with Portage County EMA, the sheriff’s office and local fire and police departments; the day will be a staff‑development/waiver day with public notices planned.
The junior high school principal told the board the district will host an active‑shooter drill on Oct. 31 that will include Portage County Emergency Management, the sheriff’s office, Atwater and Randolph fire departments and nearby police agencies.
The principal said the exercise will be larger than routine lockdown drills, simulating a full response and emphasizing coordination so neighboring schools can provide mutual aid. "This is far more involved," the principal said, adding that the district is participating so school and county responders "are kind of all on the same page as far as what we do response‑wise." Staff will use the day as a professional development/waiver day; students will not be present.
The board and administrators said press notices will go out before the exercise to inform the public that the drill is real‑time training and not an actual incident. The superintendent and safety partners plan to use the exercise to test procedures, communications and cross‑agency roles so that one district can support another in a real emergency.
The district said the Oct. 31 drill follows two earlier county exercises and is part of an effort to eventually include all schools in the county in similar coordinated drills. The board received the update as an informational item; no policy change or vote was required at the meeting.
Next steps: the district will publish details and contact information for the public release and continue to coordinate logistics with participating agencies.
