John Willoughby: Greene Publishing, Inc.
On Monday, April 9, while students were out of school, administrative staff within the Madison County School District (MCSD) and Madison County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) were in school.
School and district administrators within the MCSD gathered together in the Madison County Central School media center for an approximate six-hour training provided by Capt. Chris Andrews and Jerrod Lauth of the MCSO, for the purpose of equipping administrators with the proper skills and mindsets in the case of a tragic event, a school shooting. Andrews and Lauth were assisted by MCSO's Chris O'Brian, Maurice Alexander, Joey Knight, Randy Jansch, and two members of MCSO's Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (S.E.R.T.). Approximately 70 employees of the MCSD were in attendance.
A key point within the training were the do’s and don’ts during an active shooter situation. According to MCSD Superintendent Dr. Karen Pickles, the current lockdown policy is to lock the door, turn out the lights, and secure themselves behind a second door. "We do not want to be sitting ducks," said Pickles, but concerning a change in policy, she stated that it truly depends on the situation at hand. "We were trained to get out," said Pickles, who attended a school safety training in Taylor County.
Within the School Safety Act, school districts in the State of Florida are required to have a designated threat assessment team, which has yet to be named. The assessment team will work directly with the District School Safety Specialist Ben Killingsworth, who was recently appointed. Within his position, Killingsworth is ultimately responsible for conducting school risk assessments using a tool, provided by the Office of Safe Schools. Killingsworth's is also responsible for providing training on emergency procedure and mental health assistance.
During the training, the OODA loop system was introduced to all faculty and staff. According to tacticalresponse.com, The OODA loop, which stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act, is a way of explaining how everyone goes through the process of reacting to stimuli. During the training, employees were taught how to use the cycle as a way of keeping safe from an active shooter, and how to disrupt an active shooter's plan. "The people are walking in here and killing [others] for no reason," said Capt. Andrews. "And I'm not okay with it."
MCSO Captain Chris Andrews was the instructor for the six-hour training course that all administrators within the Madison County School District took part in on Monday, April 9.
After a lunch break, Jerrod Lauth and others armed themselves with dummy guns, loaded with non-lethal simulation rounds used for the purpose of training. The first part of the simulation training was utilized for the staff to go into the classroom and prepare themselves as they would for an active shooter, using the current MCSD policy. The second part of simulation training was quite different, as they were instructed to go beyond their policy and use the OODA loop more effectively. Staff members found themselves using a more effective strategy, securing themselves and staying safe.
To see more photos from the training, pick up a copy of the Madison County Carrier! In newsstands now.