Hiawatha School District 426 teachers and staff learn ALICE procedures

KIRKLAND – Hiawatha School District 426 teachers and staff learned firsthand Friday during training exercises that basic lockdown procedures are not always enough to stop an intruder from breaking into a classroom.

Kirkland police officers demonstrated ways to flee or fight off a shooter using ALICE strategic procedures. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate.

Senior officer Anthony Miller said teachers must decide the best strategy to take when they are alerted to a shooter in the school, whether it’s to evacuate students, barricade the door or attack the intruder.

For the first exercise, Kirkland Mayor Les Bellah played the role of the gunman and broke through the glass of each door with the back of a shotgun. He then opened the doors and fired NERF darts to gauge how many would have been shot in each classroom.

“The problem with lockdown is it was based off of prisons to gain immediate control,” Miller said. “We look at the mindset of the shooter, and it’s also for control and convenience. Basically, they know there’s kids in these rooms.”

Andrew Bartman, a high school math teacher, attempted to physically stop the intruder by tackling him when he came into the classroom.

“They came in, they broke through the glass and opened the door, and I was right there and I thought, ‘I have to do something, otherwise he’s going to shoot everyone,’ ” he said.

Miller said Bartman had the right instinct to attack the intruder.

“His mindset was perfect; he got mad. ‘How dare this guy try to hurt my kids?’ ” Miller said. “That rage is going to give you enough energy to deal with that guy, because adrenaline is only going to last you so long.”

Bartman said he appreciated having the opportunity to step back and learn from the exercise.

“I think there was a lot of laughter and joking around, but we took it seriously,” he said. “If this does actually happen, we know it’s going to be a terrible situation, but it was good to be able to run through it with teachers knowing that nobody was actually going to get hurt.”

Teachers also practiced barricading their doors. Tactics included wrapping belts around the doorknob to hold the door shut and placing tables and large objects in front of the door.

“There’s a difference between cover and concealment,” Miller said. “Cover is anything that can stop a bullet; concealment is when you’re hidden. Don’t always think a piece of drywall is cover.”

For another exercise, participants had to fight off the intruders. Some threw objects at the gunman to disorient him while others jumped on him or grabbed his hand to stop him from shooting.

Miller said many teachers now have “battle boxes” with items such as baseballs to throw at intruders as well as snacks and books to keep the students occupied while waiting for police to come lead them out.

He said it will take three years for the school to become fully ALICE compliant, and signs will be posted around the school to warn potential intruders.