(CHICAGO) Cary Grove (HS) Drill To Include Shooting Blanks In Hallways

[kpete]

Source: CBS

CHICAGO (CBS) — A school shooting drill planned for tomorrow in the far northwestern suburbs has many parents upset.

According to a letter from Cary-Grove High School principal Jay Sargeant, there will be a code red drill at the school on Wednesday.

It will include somebody shooting blanks from a gun in the hallway “in an effort to provide our teachers and students some familiarity with the sound of gunfire.”

Parent Kassy Pinter says: “It’s probably necessary to have the ‘code red’ drill but not really necessary to shoot the blanks in the hallway.”

Read more: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/01/29/cary-grove-drill-to-include-shooting-blanks-in-hallways/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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The full email:

Dear parents:

At Cary-Grove and across District 155, we make your child’s safety our number one priority each day. As a parent, I can assure you that we understand our responsibility to return your child safely at the end of each day. While we take many preventative steps to keep our building secure, we also practice our response should a crisis arise. Some examples include meetings with first responders, a comprehensive crisis response plan, and simulations. We are planning a code red simulation on Wednesday, January 30. We feel it is important to explain the simulation to you in advance so that you and your child might be able to better understand what will take place on Wednesday.

The simulation will take approximately 15-20 minutes, during which time teachers will secure their rooms, draw curtains, and keep their students from traveling throughout the building. Please note that we will be firing blanks in the hallway in an effort to provide our teachers and students some familiarity with the sound of gunfire. Our school resource officer and other members of the Cary Police Department will assist us in sweeping the building to ensure that all students are in a secure location during the drill. At the conclusion of the drill, we will take some time to process what occurred and then we will return to our normal classroom routine.

I encourage you to discuss the drill with your student both before it happens and after. These drills help our students and staff to be prepared should a crisis occur, but it may cause some students to have an emotional reaction. In those cases, your voice may provide reassurances of the drill’s importance. Additionally, we have trained social workers on staff who can speak directly with your child should he or she need added support.

Should you have any questions, please contact me or any member of the Cary-Grove’s administrative team. Together, we can keep our school a safe place for your child to learn and grow.

Sincerely,

Jay Sargeant
Principal

[Angry Dragon]

1. I remember hiding under desks and out in the hallway

when I was in school because the commies were going to bomb us

Look how far we have come

[Purveyor]

2. This is fucking insane! Somebody needs to find a judge FAST to get an injunction to stop this

madness.

Imagine the emotional state this may put some of the kids in.

[frazzled]

3. To be clear: Cary-Grove High School is NOT in Chicago

Cary, Illinois, is in McHenry County, about 45 minutes northwest of the city of Chicago. I'm not sure why you put "Chicago" in your header, other than it may have been the byline for the article, which emanated from Chicago.

This would be like saying Newtown, CT. is in New York City.

[snort]

4. This is grotesque. n/t

[global1]

5. How Absurd.....nt

[malthaussen]

6. Jay Sergeant?

You can't make this stuff up...

I remember those A-Bomb drills. Hey, children, you won't get vaporized -- as long as you don't lean on the horses!

-- Mal

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Dear Parent: We want you child to be as anxious and fear based as possible.

You know this idea will spread to other schools.
I wonder if any of the students in the school have had a relative killed by gunfire...perhaps a military member?

I understand the thinking behind the drill.
I also understand that ONE drill is pretty ineffective, which is why fire drills are held more than once.

[snappyturtle]

8. My kid would be taking a sick day. eom

[IDemo]

9. Duck and cover

Those were the days

[MissMarple]

10. This is a colossally stupid idea.

[truthisfreedom]

11. Too many things could go wrong.

There's no reason to traumatize children like this. The halls will smell of gunpowder, and any number of accidents could happen.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

12. I hope ALL the teachers get the memo!

I hate to think what would happen if a teacher with concealed weapon went to school that day and...

[Brigid]

13. My kid would not be going to school that day.

He/she would be bringing home lessons and working on them there. But the biggest lesson of the day would be that sometimes people in authority make unbelievably stupid decisions.

[alp227]

14. Couldn't they have done virtual alternatives?

Like SOUND EFFECTS?

[Crepuscular]

15. Moronic idea.

I kind of doubt, given the propensity in Hollywood these days to blow things up and fire off thousands of rounds in just about every movie made, that many of these high school students are unfamiliar with the sound of gunfire.

Whoever came up with this idea needs their head examined.

[mrdmk]

16. Discuss this, 'Are you out of you fucking mind?'

Somebody needs to take this asshole idea to court and shut-it down. If a person wants their child to subject to gun-fire, then that family can go to the shooting range. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

[Crowman1979]

17. Your Homeland Security dollars at work.

[The Straight Story]

18. Someone would like a word with them....