No more 'Code Red'

I recently had the chance to chat with Nicole Lackus, a Cloquet middle school teacher, about procedure in the event of a lockdown at Cloquet schools.

Over the past six months or so, school resource officer Eric Blesener and others have trained staff at each Cloquet school (and a number of the county schools) in a protocol called “ALICE,” which helps schools develop the best strategies possible in case of an armed intruder. ALICE — which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform 911, Counter and Evacuate — was developed through extensive research and data collected from multiple occurences of intruders in the schools. With this real-life data, specialists have been able to analyze what strategies were most successful in keeping kids safe during these traumatic situations, Lackus told me.

As a result, the Cloquet schools recently changed policies on lockdowns. A lockdown is declared when a threat to school safety is detected — then everything essentially stops. No one is allowed in, or out, sometimes not even allowed to move around inside the school.

One of the changes is fascinating to me. They got rid of “codes” in the schools (Code Blue, Code Red, etc.). Instead, someone will get on the intercom and be very direct about what is happening, and where: “There is a fire in the kitchen. Please evacuate” or “There is an intruder in the office.”

This is supposed to eliminate confusion, which is good. But it should also help alleviate children’s anxieties during such events. Kids seem to jump to the worst conclusion possible in a lockdown, no matter how much we prepare them for drills

Those drills really help, too: when schools realized that secret codes made the kids more scared, rather than shielding and protecting them, the Code Reds and Code Blues were eliminated.

Another change is that the school no longer encourages students to find places to hide or take cover. It turned out this was actually one of the most dangerous things we could have our kids do during a school invasion.

“I have been taught, for as long as I can remember, to always be quiet and hide from the bad guys,” Lackus told me. “According to the data, it is more effective to barricade, counter (throw something, protect yourself), and evacuate,” Lackus said. “We are discussing with our students how we would respond to an intruder near our classroom by barricading our room with as many things as possible, then spreading out in the classroom (instead of all of us seeking refuge in the same corner), armed with things to throw.”

If someone were to burst through a locked classroom door with the intent to harm, students have discussed with their teachers what types of things to throw at the intruder in order to distract them so the kids could escape.

Finally, staff was taught how important it was to train children to escape.

“We explored plans for different scenarios besides the classroom, like recess, lunch, and gym, while emphasizing that each situation would be unique,” Lackus said. “We also discussed making a plan to meet — so we could safely account for everyone.”

Lackus told me that just because there is an “intruder” in the school does not necessarily mean that the person will cause harm.

“I explained that once, a mentally unwell, homeless person walked into one of my former schools for a ‘cup of coffee’ and to check on what the children were learning these days,” she said. “I also stressed to my children that under no circumstances do I want them to ever try to be the hero by trying to fight the bad guys. I told them that the only person they ever need to be the hero for is those that love them, and that will happen by being as safe as possible.

“It truly is heartbreaking that we even have to have these drills,” Lackus said.

But, after the ALICE training, she added: “I truly believe that our district has adopted the best approach possible to ensure our students’ safety.”

Lackus also encouraged parents to have a thoughtful talk with their children about the new protocol. I am a bit uncomfortable about it, but I plan to follow her advice.

Pete Radosevich is the publisher of the Pine Knot News community newspaper and an attorney in Esko who hosts the talk show Harry’s Gang on CAT-7. He can be reached at Pete.Radosevich @PineKnotNews.com.