When the Swat Team arrived on the scene at Overfelt High School, witnesses told them two things: an officer was down and there were two armed males on the school grounds.
A mock emergency exercise at Overfelt High School in San Jose was uncomfortably real for teachers and students who participated.
The sound of more shots rang out on the San Jose campus. There was yelling and smoke. One of the students, Luis Meza, later told reporters, "I lost it. When I heard the shots,I fell to the ground and didn't know what to do."
In a scene chillingly reminiscent of the Columbine High School shootings, San Jose students and school staff ran from the school grounds, arms over their heads, while being directed by police. Others lay on the ground, appearing either dead or wounded.
Sometimes it was difficult to remember that the scenario was only a simulation, East Side Teachers Association (ESTA) members recall. The mock emergency exercise, held at the Overfelt campus, was uncomfortably real.
"Certain things triggered emotional responses in students," says ESTA member Jane Voss, who was barricaded in the music room with 35 students and a few other teachers and staff. "Most kids stayed calm, focused and quiet, but tears were welling in one student's eyes. I kept saying, 'We will get through this. We will get through this.' When camouflaged and armed SWAT officers came through an interior door, it took us by surprise. They evacuated us through a corridor and told us to run. It was oddly surreal."
More than 600 students, ESTA members, California School Employees Association members, administrators and police participated in Operation: Safe Campus, an all-day armed-intruder simulation. Students and staff were recruited from throughout the East Side Union High School District's 11 campuses. Police and SWAT teams from San Jose, Sunnyvale and Campbell participated. Observers included representatives from other police departments and school districts, CTA, the Attorney General's Office and the FBI.
The mock emergency exercise at Overfelt showed teachers and students the benefits of acting like survivors rather than victims. Among the teachers taking part were Hector Verduzco, consoling a student during the lockdown phase.
The campus was in lockdown mode, with no one able to enter or leave while the simulation was in progress.
"What we learned was how to better keep students and staff safe," says Carla Holtzclaw, an ESTA member on special assignment with her district's Office of Safety in Schools. "We are currently completing in-depth assessments which will create the next steps for our safety plans and trainings."
"It was risky to do," recalls Holtzclaw, who with Michael Gibeau, director of the Office of Safety in Schools, helped plan the event with district and site administrators, ESTA, the San Jose Police Department and the City of San Jose's Department of Neighborhood Services. "Because it was a simulation and not a drill, it took on a life of its own. It was a tremendous undertaking. We blanketed the community in advance so nobody would think it was real and panic. We tested both traditional and new protocols to see where improvements need to be made."
When schools have a "Code Red" or lockdown because of an armed intruder on campus, teachers are typically told to lock their doors and wait to be rescued, says Holtzclaw. "This creates a victim mentality. We wanted teachers to develop a survivor mentality. It's hard, because teachers are trained to be teachers, not SWAT officers."
Ellen Pyeatt and Jane Voss, going over the scenario with participants from Silver Creek High School.
During the simulation, teachers followed new procedures jointly developed with the San Jose Police Department, such as barricading doors and creating interior barricades with stacks of desks and tables to stay behind. "Intruders will likely follow the path of least resistance, so blocking doors makes sense," explains Holtzclaw.
Each class or staging area had a safety observer assigned to collect data. There was a gathering place for anxious parents, as well as a place for public information officers to give updates to the media. Evacuees were escorted through safe corridors to predetermined rendezvous locations where city and district personnel waited to provide support.
Nobody was informed beforehand what would be taking place exactly. "Students kept asking, 'What is happening? Are people hurt? How long will it take to get out?' recalls Hector Verduzco, a teacher at Overfelt. "It was pretty intense. I didn't allow talking, because I wanted to make the experience as realistic as possible."
Teachers also partnered with SWAT teams to practice new evacuation protocols. "It was an incredible experience," says Ellen Pyeatt, who serves as the ESTA site rep at Overfelt. "It proved that if there is a safety plan and kids know what they are supposed to do, they will instinctively follow directions. You have to have a plan. If a shooting can happen on one campus, it can happen on any campus."
"I don't care how much control you have over a school, you can lose it in 30 seconds," says ESTA member Bill Mustanich, a disciplinary advisor and program coordinator for Andrew Hill High School. "The issue isn't whether something might happen. The issue is how quickly you can reclaim control and deal with the incident so loss is limited."
Mustanich served as a safety observer assigned to the Public Information Officers. "I learned that information has to be released very carefully, and that you have to be honest with the public in a delicate manner. If you are lying to the public, you could have a riot. If, on the other hand, you are too blatant with the truth, you could have the same results. You have to walk a very fine line."
Because Operation: Safe Campus was a simulation, not everything went as planned. Not all of the students and staff were evacuated. There were communications problems. Overall, however, organizers feel the experience was tremendously helpful, resulting in a great deal of knowledge that could mean the difference between life and death.
"It took a lot of discussion, collaboration and trust for the simulation to happen," says Holtzclaw. "Hopefully, we will all retire and never see anything close to this ever happening. But both East Side and the San Jose Police Department are better prepared because of what we've learned."
For more information, contact East Side's Office of Safety in Schools at (408) 928-9160 or (408) 928-9163.
