By Meagan Ginnaty-Moore, Editorial Editor
Up until this year, Kenosha Unified School District’s plan to defend against a school shooter has been to sit in a corner of a room, turn the lights off, and quietly hope for the best. However, this year KUSD is teaching a new procedure that allows for more nuance and empowers staff and students. This program is called ALiCE – alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate.
ALiCE is an active shooter civilian response training course. This program is used all over the country and can be customized to each school. Teachers have been trained to teach the curriculum of ALiCE and will use these lessons to empower students to work together in finding the best way to stay safe in case of a school shooting.
In the event of a shooting, Indian Trail administrators said they will be able to find out where the shooter is through security cameras and communicate that information to staff through classroom phones. The Education Support Center (ESC), KUSD headquarters, also has access to all security cameras in the school district and can pass along any helpful information to the school. Each classroom has also been equipped with an ALiCE kit that will help keep intruders out of classrooms.
“The goal of ALiCE is to stay alive and as safe as possible.”
— Anthony Casper, Indian Trail vice principal
Students have already begun to learn what this program is and what it means. On March 1 and March 16, teachers gave their classes their first lessons on ALiCE, which covered what the program is. Students were told if the intruder was in a different part of the building than them, they were to leave the building and as they exit to raise their hands above their head as to tell police that they are not a threat. However, if the shooter is near their room, they were to barricade the door with desks, book cases, file cabinets, and anything else that would make it harder for the intruder to enter the room. Students were also told to grab anything that can be thrown in case the intruder does enter the room.
“A shooter is looking to do as much damage as possible. They aren’t going to spend time trying to open doors,” said Anthony Casper, Indian Trail assistant principal. “Disorienting the shooter by throwing things is also a good form of defense, but that is the last resort…”
““A shooter is looking to do as much damage as possible. They aren’t going to spend time trying to open doors.”
— Anthony Casper, Indian Trail vice principal
Teachers also answered any questions students had and asked for feedback on students opinions of the new program. This format of teaching the material then answering questions and getting feedback is how every lesson will be conducted. Administration has said that they want everyone to be on the same page as to what to do in case of a shooting. They also want to shape the curriculum and the program to Indian Trail. This is why the various lessons will be taught in different class periods – so every student will have a general idea of what to do in different parts of the building.
Above all else, this program is to keep everyone in the building safe in the event of a worst case scenario, which is why administration stresses that no one should subdue an intruder.
“We don’t want anyone to feel the need to be heros,” said Casper. “The goal [of ALiCE] is to stay alive and as safe as possible.”