North Greene District implements ALICE training
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By Carmen Ensinger
The North Greene School District, in an effort to provide the safest possible environment for its students and staff, is participating in ALICE training in its schools.
ALICE is an anacronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. It is a training program designed to educate people on how to respond in the event of an active shooter or violent intruder situation.
“We want to ensure they have a safe place to learn, work and grow by taking proactive steps in securing our schools,” North Greene Superintendent Jackie Kuchy said. “To maintain our safety standards and adapt to the societal threat of a violent intruder inside our school, we are adopting the ALICE proactive strategies.”
Adoption of a lockdown-only response has been deemed insufficient by the Department of Education, independent researchers and law enforcement.
“Society is dictating we change our thought process on safety and ALICE options-based strategies will help increase survivability,” Kuchy said. “We found the ALICE strategies to be the most adopted by schools across the country, and ALICE training helps to maintain our compliance with the federally recommended guidelines.”
ALICE empowers individuals to participate in their survival using proactive-options based responses.
“I want to assure everyone that we went to great lengths to understand exactly what each option entails,” Kuchy said. “We are very comfortable with all the ALICE proactive strategies to empower our students and staff to survive until help arrives. We will implement these safety strategies in age and ability appropriate ways.”
North Greene staff will be fully trained on the ALICE strategies through online classes and hands-on training with local ALICE certified instructors.
“We are very pleased with the comprehensive roll-out procedure ALICE Training Institute has in place,” Kuchy said. “We believe this is the right choice for our students, staff, schools and the community.”
Kuchy said over the next few weeks they will be introducing some of these new strategies during mandatory intruder drills.
“Be assured, our staff is committed to keeping your children safe while in our care,” she said. “We believe adopting the ALICE method is a proactive and necessary step for improving emergency response measures.”
The key to survival in an active shooter situation is having a variety of defensive options and being prepared to adapt to changing circumstances. The ALICE Training program teaches participants to:
Alert: Recognize and report the threat immediately.
Lockdown: Secure the immediate area by locking or barricading doors. Turn off lights and silence electronic devices.
Inform: Communicate the shooter’s location and direction, if possible, to help responders and potential victims.
Counter: Create noise, movement, and distraction to disrupt the shooter’s aim. As a last resort, engage in physical defense.
Evacuate: Leave the area as quickly and safely as possible when an opportunity presents itself or when authorities provide instructions.
