RLISD teachers participate in active shooter training

Rosebud-Lott Independent School District staff picked up a new skill in their training on Feb 18.

Staff underwent the Big Iron CHL Guardian Active Shooter Training, a smaller part of the Big Iron CHL’s School Safety Officer (SSO) Certification program. One training was held at RosebudLott Elementary School during the morning hours and the other was held for RLMS/RLHS in the afternoon.

The program, called Surveying An Active Shooter, was led by Johnny Price, Texas DPS Certified SSO and License To Carry Instructor. He travels around Central Texas to train faculty and students on how to stay alive in the event of an active shooter.

According to the Big Iron CHL website, an active shooter can be defined as “an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.” Schools, being a confined and populated area, have been the subject of active shooters increasingly over the last 10 years. T

he Rosebud News spoke with RLISD Superintendent Steve Brownlee concerning the training.

Each four-hour session began with conversation amongst the attendees about the current environments found in public schools around the United States.

“The scenarios of Jonesboro, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Santa Fe, and others were all revisited, so that Mr. Price could discuss what worked and what did not work in each situation,” Brownlee said.

The discussion was accompanied by a number of videos on on the topic.

What's first?

Students are the main priority in an active shooter situation. Tactics for denying entry to a classroom/school facility were touched on, along with the proper way for licensed educators to interact with first responders. Price also stressed the importance of situational awareness and communication on a daily basis, not just in the case of an event.

Why do school shootings happen?

There are any number of reasons that a shooting might happen.

“55% of active shooters have connections with victims or location.” Price explained to participants.

It could be for attention, for social media, due to psychological issues (such as depression or PTSD,) due to past bullying, or for other unknown reasons.

What are the options?

There are three options to consider when thinking on the idea of school safety:
1. Avoid – This is the preferred option. It involves preparation and situational awareness. Paying attention to surroundings, along with a pre-planned exit route, leads to easier movement away from the threat. It is advised to have as many doors/barriers between the threat and the threatened as possible.
2. Deny- This is where safety plans can come into play. Extra barriers can be put in place to prevent situations from arising, such as the locked doors and gates around the district. Remaining quiet and out of sight in the event of an active shooter also falls under ‘deny’. Cell phones should be silenced, people out of sight of windows, lights turned off etc.
3. Defend- This would be allowing the fight response to take over; being aggressive and committed to your actions. According to Price, educators allowing themselves to get angry are more effective in their protection of others than when succumbing to fear.

The instructor has been doing this since 2015.

“You have to get teachers out of their normal thinking and not be the nurturer,” he told KWTX in late 2019. “They've got to now be the defender and protector, and they've got to fight with everything they got.”

Attendees demonstrated the “defend” portion of the options shown above during the second portion of the training.

“The staff was exposed to actual gunfire (blanks) and then tested to see how they would respond under those circumstances.” Superintendent Brownlee continued. “This process was repeated several times with differing scenarios.”

The training held at the middle and high school level also included trainings throughout the facility, in order to expose the staff to “more appropriate and realistic [scenarios] for the secondary age environment.”

“This was not simply a "sit-and-get" half-day of training,” the educator maintained.

Administrators that attended each session are in agreement that the training was successful and gave them new insights.

RLES secretary Martha Westerman is quoted as saying, "the presenter was very knowledgeable and there was lots of useful information shared".  Her counterpart at RLES, Cindy Hoelscher said, "it was very beneficial and eye-opening as to what we might expect and how to react.''

The high school principal, Dr. Jerrod Barton agreed as well. “"I pray to God that this never happens but I feel that we will be better prepared now to react if something were ever to occur."

The school district as a whole is grateful to the City of Lott Police Department and Pct. 3 County Constable Jerry Loden for putting this event together.

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