In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut, Park School postponed an emergency drill scheduled for tomorrow.
"In light of the Connecticut school tragedy and after reflecting on the safety and needs of everyone, I wanted to let families know that we will NOT be involving the students in a lockdown drill tomorrow," Principal Andrew Withers said in an email to parents on Monday. The district also notified families though the School Messenger phone system on Sunday.
The drill has been rescheduled for January, but Withers and district staff will still meet tomorrow to discuss and critique lockdown procedures.
Mill Valley is not the only district where compassion prevailed. The Novato Unified School District also put a long-planned lockdown drill on hold, and sent out a note to all principals Monday morning.
Mill Valley School District Superintendent Paul Johnson said drills are held school by school about once a month on a rotating basis, with separate drills for fire, earthquake and intruder scenarios. The Park School drill would have been for an intruder, and the district felt it was too soon.
"It just wasn't good timing," Johnson said, "And we didn't want to scare the children."
Sound like a good move to you? Add a comment below.
Patch has a site in Newtown, Conn., and the writers are doing an amazing job personalizing the tragedy. Click here for the series of tribute stories, including a new one about the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary.
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