Maryland Center for School Safety publishes updated guidelines for active shooter drills
A Maryland law passed earlier this year requires the Maryland Center for School Safety to study the effectiveness and the mental health impacts of active shooter drills and trainings on students and staff.
Kim Buckheit, director of strategic initiatives at the Maryland Center for School Safety, explained that simulated sounds of gunfire or explosions, banging on classroom doors and having individuals posing as assailants or victims are banned under the guidelines for drills carried out during the school day: “All of those types of simulations are not allowed in Maryland.”
That decision comes as a result of legislation that highlighted concerns over the potential for generating trauma on the students and staff exposed to those training strategies.
Buckheit explained that MCSS is working with the National Center for School Based Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to carry out research on the effects of the drills and trainings in Maryland schools.
“Students, staff and parents will have the opportunity to complete this survey, and then those results will go back to the university (for further study),” she said.
Buckheit explained that the surveys will be carried out over a five-year period and the results will inform “the best practice guidelines based on what we learn.”
The need to balance preparation alongside mental health concerns means frequent check-ins will be conducted during the exercises, she said.
The focus of the drills is, “(to teach) the process procedure effectively without traumatizing (students or staff),” Buckheit said.
The guidelines also require that school systems announce the drills by including them in the schedule at the beginning of the school year. Training and drill preparation also require that the drills be age-appropriate, and that staff be able to provide support for students experiencing distress during the drill.
The guidelines also state that “a mechanism should be established to pause or stop the drill if necessary.”
The guidelines are now posted on the MCSS website.