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New state law mandates school shooting drill
By Grace S. Park, IASA Intern
In the aftermath of the tragic shootings at Sandy
Hook Elementary School, the General Assembly
amended the School Safety Drill Act to mandate that
a school shooting drill must be conducted annually at
each school building containing students. Governor
Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 1625 on July 1.
During the academic year, schools are to conduct
six school safety drills. Three of the drills must be fire
evacuation drills, including at least one in which the
local fire department participates. The other three
drills must include a bus evacuation drill, a severe
weather and shelter-in-place drill and, per SB 1625, a
law enforcement drill involving a shooting incident.
Previously, schools could include a shooting incident,
but were not mandated to do so.
The amendment to the School Safety Drill Act
was the result of the discussions that arose from
Governor Quinn’s School Safety Summit. The summit
was facilitated by the Illinois Emergency Management
Agency (IEMA) and included law enforcement, fire
service, public health and education representatives
among its invited attendees.
Another change in the law is that local law
enforcement is now required to participate in the
school shooting drill, much like the local fire
department has been mandated to participate in
school fire evacuation drills. School administrators
and local law enforcement are expected, by mutual
agreement, to set a date for the on-site drill during
each academic year. If a mutually agreeable date
cannot be compromised between the school
administrator and the appropriate local law
enforcement agency, the school shall still hold the
drill without participation from the agency.
Upon the participation of a local law enforcement
agency in a law enforcement drill, the appropriate
local law enforcement official shall certify that the law
enforcement drill was conducted and notify the school
in a timely manner of any deficiencies noted during
the drill.
IEMA Director Jonathan Monken said he thinks
one of the benefits of the new law is that it will help
set a common baseline for schools to be prepared to
respond to a shooting incident.
“When you look at a state like Illinois, there are
864 school districts, and almost 5,000 secondary and
primary schools. So when you look at that number of
institutions, that number of facilities, it stands to
reason that you will see differences from school to
school,” said Monken, who previously served as
interim director of the Illinois State Police before
being named director of IEMA in 2011. “Some
already integrate well with law enforcement, but we
wanted to raise that lowest common denominator to
make sure we have a better baseline for what schools
are doing in terms of preparedness.”
Ron Ellis, who became director of the state’s
school and campus security training program after
serving 19 years with the Illinois State Police, said
that while the change in the School Safety Drill Act
will help, there remains a need for consistency.
"The problem we have found in going around the
state is that everyone is doing it a little bit differently,"
said Ellis, whose training program is funded by the
Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) and is in
partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education
(ISBE) and the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm
System (ILEAS). “The School Safety Drill Act says
you will do certain types and numbers of drills. It does
not say how to do them."
Another issue confronting school administrators
regarding the new law is whether children should be
included in the school shooting drills. The law does
not specifically require that students be a part of the
shooting drills, leaving that decision up to individual
districts.
Dr. Gary Niehaus, Superintendent of McLean
County Unit District 5, where a student brought a gun
to a classroom and fired shots into the ceiling last fall,
believes the benefits outweigh the concerns when it
comes to involving students of all ages in the drills.
“I think it is a major mistake not to include kids in
the drills,” said Niehaus, whose district includes
13,600 students and 17 elementary schools, four
junior highs and two high schools. “We are certainly
sensitive to the age of the students, but still feel
strongly that students, regardless of age, should be
involved with drills. Prior to drills we notify parents as
to what is happening and ask them to talk with their
children about the situation.”
Photo by David Proeber courtesy of The Pantagraph
Matt Chapman, a teacher at Normal Community High School,
evacuates students to Eastview Christian Church after gunfire at
the high school Friday, September 7, 2012. No one was injured.
