5
the dynamics of dealing with parents, students and
the media that day might have been completely
different,” Niehaus said.
Despite some pushback, active shooter
evacuation drills involving students had been
conducted in the McLean County district.
“Some of our schools did not want to do drills
that included students. I think it is a major mistake
not to include kids in the drills,” Niehaus said.
When Normal Community High School went into
lockdown mode, some students were caught
between classes and
locked
out of their classrooms.
Because they knew
the drill, the students
self-evacuated to the
pre-designated site.
Niehaus said he
thinks
students
knowing how to react
to a crisis situation
outweighs
the
possibility
that
potential
student
perpetrators
might
learn
something
strategic from the
exercises.
District administrators were gathering for their
weekly cabinet meeting on that Friday morning and
were able to be immediately dispatched to Normal
Community High, where the police command center
was being established, and to Eastview Church, the
evacuation and reunification site. Niehaus and
Communications Director Dayna Brown set up a
communications center at the district office.
Getting information to parents was an urgent
priority.
“The days of holding everything until you have a
nice package of information are gone,” said Brown,
a former reporter and editor with the Peoria Journal
Star. “With all of the social media and a 24-hour
news cycle, the news is out there instantly.”
The first message from the school district was
sent to parents at 8:30 a.m. and said: “This is to
inform you of lockdown situation this morning at
Normal Community High School. I want to start by
saying that all students are safe, as that is always
our number one priority. Early this morning a
student fired shots into the ceiling at Normal
Community. Two students are in
custody. We are working with Normal
Police Department and more details of this
very troubling incident will be available later
today. There has been no threat to any other
school. Normal Community students are relocating
to Eastview, but all other schools are experiencing a
normal school day. We will share details as they
become available.”
The message – the first of six sent that day --
was transmitted using School Reach, the district’s
automated phone call system, as well as email and
Twitter and also was posted on the district’s
website. The quick dissemination of information
later was praised by the Bloomington Pantagraph,
which wrote:
Communications technology has altered the
landscape when it comes to episodes like the one
at Normal Community High School.
School officials used it promptly to communicate
what happened and what was being done to ensure
student safety. They really had no choice because
students were spreading what they knew to parents
and others, using their own digital devices.
That’s the way it is today, a game-changer.
Many (probably thousands) of people knew almost
immediately after the shots were fired in a
classroom that something was amiss. Worry
mushroomed, sketchy information — not all of it
accurate — spread and the demand for more
information sharpened.
Thankfully, school officials were up to the task,
using mass emails and phone calls to push
information to parents and the media as soon as
they had basic facts nailed down. There were some
glitches, but by-and-large, it worked well. Then they
(Continued from page 4)
(Continued on page 6)
McLean story ——————————————————
“
The days of holding everything
until you have a nice package
of information are gone. With all
of the social media and a 24-
hour news cycle, the news is out there
instantly
.
”
- - Dayna Brown, District 5 Communications Director
Lessons
Learned
