Campus Conducts First Emergency Drill
September 22, 2021
Southside recently practiced the first tornado drill of the year with all of the students on campus moving into the newly finished East and West tornado shelters.
“The paths went very well. The entrance to the shelters went fairly well. Now that we all experienced the process, it should go smoother next time,” assistant principal Jeff Mosby said.
Some students and staff members expressed concern about the safety of a drill and the interior capacity of each shelter, due to COVID-19 and other external stressors.
“I don’t like the idea of cramming a thousand students together in a confined space when COVID is starting to become a problem again with the Delta variant. It just doesn’t seem right for everyone to be all together like that for that extended period of time,” senior Jonathen Perdomo said.
Health and safety concerns involve 1,570 enrolled students adhering to COVID-19 safety regulations.
“Covid plays a huge part in our safety. We are currently under a mask mandate and allows us to be close enough to follow the drill. We look at all the protocols from the district and the CDC before making decisions. It is very important for our students to be safe while at school,” Mosby said.
During the procedure, students positioned into single-file lines in order to maximize efficiency getting into the tornado shelter.
“The single file lines not only help with organization it also limits the close contact traveling to the shelters,” Mosby said.
Tornado drills typically take between 10-15 minutes, but the most recent drill went overtime taking approximately 20 minutes to conclude.
“There will be some changes on the next drill. The paths went very well. The entrance to the shelters went fairly well. Now that we all experienced the process, it should go smoother next time,” Mosby said.
Procedures were also implemented to ensure no students are lost in the process of moving everyone to the shelter. Maintenance personnel and faculty members located along the routes to the shelters helped direct foot traffic into the shelters.
“We will also have a signage system which will allow teachers to quickly take attendance and let the admin know that all is present. This will also lower the amount of time we are together to increase our safety concerning Covid,” Mosby said.
Mosby asked for faculty feedback to assist in making improvements ahead of the October drill. Consideration about the safety of students, the efficiency of the drill, and an attendance system will be addressed to enhance the emergency drill process.
