Readers, please pass this post on to district authorities who might benefit.

We were discussing details of an upcoming lockdown drill this morning. I’ve done lots of these. Yada, yada, lock the door, turn off the lights, get the kids quiet and out of the line of sight. Cover that little window in the door. Shut the shades. Do not open the door for anybody.

A student asked a great question, though: What if there is a fire “drill” during the lockdown? If a preteen kid can think of this, I’m sure a shooter could figure out the advantage of using the fire alarm. Yes, a fire alarm will cause authorities to come to the scene. But too many shooters in the past have obviously never intended to leave their shooting scene alive. That clanging alarm could be a perfect way to get students to flow out classroom doors.

The principal told students to stay put UNLESS he came on the intercom to tell them to exit the building.

I’d say this fire alarm issue should be directly addressed in the pre-lockdown speech.

Another note for the lockdown drill for our time: All students should be instructed to shut off their phones. Whether the rules forbid those phones in the classroom or not, phones are scattered in backpacks and pockets throughout our schools. I watched third-graders playing a game with a classmate’s phone this afternoon as school ended.

I started to add a last paragraph here, thanks to a fellow teacher who belongs to a favorite educational organization. I’d like to highlight the line I started with: In the traditional lockdown drill.  I looked at the word “traditional” and realized that said it all. Our shooters nowadays have sat through those drills. They probably know everybody is against the wall in the corner.  They know the doors are locked, the lights are out, and the little window is covered with some anonymous black paper precisely because that room is occupied. Frankly, no door knob will stand up against real firepower. We just sat everybody in a convenient clump for anyone who walks in that door. A police officer had told my colleague to get the kids OUT. If you are on a first floor and the windows open or you are near the door, the best move is likely to send everybody out to run to a prearranged site some distance away.

This is for principals and superintendents everywhere: Having all teachers do the same thing has to be suboptimal planning. Marco in the middle of the second floor may need to follow traditional instructions, but Sarah at the end of the first floor hallway probably should take the kids and make a fast run to a prearranged destination the kids know, such as a local library or firehouse. If we are going to have lockdown plans, these plans need to be PLANS, not tired repetitions of annual drills that our shooters maybe sat through ten times.

For teachers: I’d make a cute little strip of student work to put in that window. The black or blue plain paper strip has to be a dead giveaway.