Good Afternoon Parents/Guardians,

As we continue to learn about school safety and provide our students and staff with the latest information in best practices related to this topic, I wanted to let you know in advance that next week we will be having our first Armed Intruder Drill at the middle school. During our in-service time prior to the school year, we were trained as a staff by the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department on multiple crisis response scenarios. Our next step in preparing for these sorts of situations will be to first teach students about some response options, and then run a basic lock down drill. In future drills, we will very likely practice other response options, such as rapid evacuation and barricading, that will depend on the threat, location, and other varying circumstances. 

Along with our belief that involving students in drills that prepare for these sorts of situations is critical so that our response can be as efficient and effective as possible, these drills are also specifically required by Act 143. In every case where we run a drill in response to an Armed Intruder or Active Shooter, we will make it perfectly clear that it is a drill situation and not a real threat. At this particular point in the process, we will first carefully plan each of our responses in a meeting with our staff, and then we will teach the responses in detail to our students in the classroom before actively practicing the drill itself. 

Although the likelihood of something happening at OMS is small, we do need to be prepared and learn from the drills so our children are as safe as possible. If you have any questions or concerns about these sorts of crisis response drills, please feel free to call me at (920) 564-2383 x4218 to discuss the matter.

Thank you and have a great weekend,
Sherri Stengel