For the past five years, all Mississippi public schools have had active shooter drills. The drills were mandated by the School Safety Act of 2019, which dictates that the training is held within the first 60 days of the school year.
Thursday, teachers at Sudduth Elementary School in Starkville knew that the safety training was going to be held that day. What they did not know was that, for the first time, the drills would include simulated gunfire, blanks from a school resource officer’s handgun. Some of the staff, speaking anonymously, said the unannounced simulated gunfire was traumatic and questioned if it was a necessary part of the training.
Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s use of simulated gunfire was part of the training at all Starkville schools this year, held before students started classes on Tuesday.
The use of simulated gunfire is unique in the area. Neither the Lowndes County School District nor the Columbus Municipal School District feature simulated gunfire as a part of their training.
There are two schools of thought here. SOCSD officials say the more realistic the training, the better equipped staff will be in the event of a real event. Others say training should be focused on procedures to follow and that exposing staff to trauma is not helpful. It is important to remember that teachers and staff are lay people, not law enforcement officers whose training is far more extensive than that provided to the schools.
What is the best, most effective training for schools? Unfortunately, the state has provided no clear answer. When the legislature passed the School Safety Act it only mandated training to be done in the first 60 days of the school year.
The state provides clear standards for a multitude of situations which creates uniformity in how those policies are implemented, based on best practices and the latest information. As we have seen, almost every school shooting seems to introduce a new element that must be taken into account and should be a part of training. That’s something that should be the state’s responsibility.
Given the serious nature of active shooter training, our schools should be provided clear, well-researched, uniform standards that are implemented in all schools rather than the piece-meal approach we see now.
Perhaps simulated gun fire should be used in all active shooter training. Perhaps it should never be a part of the training. It can’t be both. That’s why uniform standards should be adopted.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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