Summerville’s Emergency Drills Not Just For Students

Tuolumne, CA — Summerville High School wants to educate parents and the public on its new directives staff and students are learning regarding emergencies on campus in the wake of the thwarted shooting plot.

As previously reported, before the plot scare, the school had adopted the A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lock down, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) safety program, which includes emergency exercises at the campus with area law enforcement. This past Thursday staff tackled fire drills in the morning and subsequently ran an actual drill later that day. However, Superintendent Robert Griffith says that, in light of the four students arrested in connection with allegedly planning the possible deadly shooting attack on campus, some of the exercises have changed. He explains, “A part of what we’re doing is putting in place training that allows for multiple options. It takes what use to be a really simple drilled and makes it more complicated, but at the same time, any emergency is not predictable. So, we’re trying to get our staff and students more prepared for when there is an emergency that they are able to respond appropriately in real-time.”

This Tuesday, there will be four class assemblies with students getting the same training as staff.  Then the school wants to get the public on aboard with a community orientation on the A.L.I.C.E. safety program at the school’s theater on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. Superintendent Griffith notes, “It will be about a one hour presentation by the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department with an opportunity for Q&A. We continue to move forward with implementing measures and procedures to respond to as many different kinds of potential threats.”  Griffith stresses that the goal is to get staff, students, parents and the public on the same page for everyone’s safety.