Starting this 2024-2025 academic year, all NYC public schools will be required to alert staff and parents prior to any lockdown. In July, the State Board Regents announced these new regulations, stating that they were required to guarantee that practice drills will not exhibit any indications of real violence and that parents would be informed prior to them happening.
In a statement to The Classic, Assistant Principal Ellen Fee said the school has already begun implementing these policies. “The Borough Safety office provided us with a template, and that’s what I used to write the email I send to parents,” she said.
In addition to the new rule, the State Board of Regents included the requirement for how many lockdown and fire drills are necessary. As of now, thirteen drills must be carried out by districts during the academic year; four lockdown and eight evacuation fire drills.
English teacher Jude Binda said, “I think notifying families about drills ahead of time gives families, parents, and guardians an opportunity to discuss these difficult topics with their children in whatever way they feel appropriate.”
Lockdown drills educate students on how to deal with emergency situations, including situations involving active shooters, should they ever occur.
Senior Ana Montan said, “With this year’s parental involvement I think it creates a more sense of community between Harrisites and their families. This obviously differs from last year as I know at least for me, my parents would not be informed until I told them.”
Junior Fathima Mohammed Iqbal said, “I think that having these drills, especially a certain number of drills, is important because this teaches students and staff members how to stay calm in an anxious and stressful circumstance or situation.”
Freshman Owen Garcon said, “I think that this will bring a lot of awareness to parents and just help to prevent a lot of incidents that have happened in past schools. I believe parents should always know what is going on at school because they trust the staff to take care of their child and anything could happen during emergency drills so it is great that for practice ones that parents will be notified just in case of anything. It is definitely an improvement in our school system.”
Ms. Fee also said that she “believes this new mandate will start more conversations between students and their parents/guardians about safety at school. It is super important to know what to do and how to act during a crisis or emergency, and it’s a hard topic to talk about as a family.”
