On the Washoe County School District's first day of classes a code yellow occurred at a local school. The school was notified by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office that there was a potential danger nearby.
Because of the code yellow, the school dismissal was extended, but officials say the communication between law enforcement, the school and guardians worked the way it should.
Whether it's a code red, yellow or simply practicing safety drills in the classrooms, officials say the school district has set procedures to keep students and staff safe. Roy Anderson, the Emergency Manager for the WCSD says, "We really want to make sure that parents understand that schools are about as safe of a place that students can be." Including procedures determining who can enter schools. Officials tells us most of the schools in the district have one point of entry for visitors and parents to check in before they are allowed to enter a school.
The most protective procedure the district has is a code red lockdown, occurring if there's a danger on campus or in the parking lot. During a code red lockdown, building doors to the school will be locked and students and staff will remain in the building. Instruction in the classroom will also stop, while all students and staff move into safe areas. Students and staff will also remain in lockdown until released by the police. "It doesn't necessarily need to be someone with a firearm. It could be someone with a baseball bat or knives, anything, that has a potential to do a lot of harm in a short period of time."
Code yellow means a secure campus, which is when they want to prevent the threat from coming onto campus, as well as keeping students and staff at school away from the incident. During a code yellow all building doors are locked and students and staff have to stay inside the building. However, instruction in the classrooms will continue as normal, while the school remains in a heightened state of alertness and security until the hazard has subsided.
The WCSD School Police will be on site for the duration of the incident. "Maybe the police are looking for a suspect that was involved in something and they're chasing them around the neighborhood and we want to make sure they don't go onto campus, or it could even be a gas leak in the neighborhood where we don't want the kids to go into the area."
Code green means the school is finally out of a code red or yellow. Schools also practice additional emergency drills aside from code reds and yellows, like evacuations and earthquake drills.
School officials also mentioned during a lockdown they will communicate directly with the students' guardian, so it's important to keep your contact information with the school up to date. Officials also advise, if a school is in lockdown, don't rush to the site. "I know it's extremely difficult for parents, you know we say, 'please stay home and wait for further instructions' and we understand it's really difficult in those situations but really that is the best thing to do."
