Dear Parents & Guardians:
The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance. Though we remain hopeful a school safety event, such as an active intruder, is something that we never have to face, we must do our best to prepare and train for such an event to provide the highest level of safety for our students.
For a few years now, the district has implemented the A.L.I.C.E approach to responding to an active intruder situation. Each letter in ALICE represents a response strategy.
- Alert – Get the word out! Use clear, concise language to convey the type and location of the event.
- Lockdown – Good starting point. We will continue to lockdown students in a secure area, however, we will include barricading the area for additional security.
- Inform – Communication keeps the intruder off balance and allows for good decision making.
- Counter – Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control.
- Evacuate – Reduce the number of potential targets for the intruder.
This approach gives our staff and students options during a situation to maximize the ability to remain safe during an incident.
We are planning to have an active intruder drill during the week of September 12-16. If you would prefer that your student NOT take part in the active intruder drill, please contact your building principal and we will provide an alternate activity (Elementary School – Angie Gentry at agentry@arcolaschools.com and JH-HS – Nick Lindsey at nlindsey@arcolaschools.com) or call (217) 268-4963.
Sincerely,
Thomas H. Mulligan, Superintendent