In October, there was a soft lockdown at the school because of a situation in the area near the school. When situations arise, schools go into soft lockdowns. Soft lockdowns are to prevent any harm that can be caused to the student body or anyone in school by an outside threat.

“One of the soft lockdowns was because there was an actual robbery happening across the street in the subdivision, and we got alerted by the police that a guy was going into homes and robbing houses. So we didn’t know if he had any type of weapon or anything on him. So that’s why we went into a soft lockdown,” said associate principal for student services Megan Licht.

Because the outside person was possibly armed, the school went into a soft lockdown, and no staff or student was allowed to leave or to be let in.

“Basically, the big part is that nobody leaves. And the students should stay in the building, and whoever is maintaining a door makes sure that nobody is able to enter until the lockdown is over and makes sure nobody leaves,” said officer Mario Balarin.

Students and staff should remain calm when they hear about a lockdown in general.

“So, yeah, I think that the hard lockdowns are necessary. I mean, me personally, I’m jumping out the window if I’m on the first floor or second floor. I’m dashing out of place, you know, if I hear about a hard lockdown, then I’m already out. If I hear about a soft lockdown, I begin to think about what’s going on, but I remain calm,” said senior Hassan Carr.

A lot of students have questions on why there are lockdowns but remain calm as they let the school and police officials do their jobs.

“I mean, the lockdowns can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Once we make the decision to go into a soft lockdown, we’re really guided by the police department and when we can lift that soft lockdown,” Licht said.

Lockdowns do not have a set time. The staff just listens to the officials as it is their job to keep everyone safe. The difference between hard lockdowns and soft lockdowns is that there is a threat inside of school for hard lockdowns, and for soft lockdowns there is a threat within a certain mile radius of school.

“I think basically you’re obviously more locked out. I don’t think there’s any changing going to be going on with the classes and things like that. It’s just a little bit. It’s more severe if you want to see this phrase a little bit more closely,” Balarin said.

There aren’t any changes really inside of school for staff and students. They continue on with their day as advised if it’s a soft lockdown. “So just staying calm is the number one thing,” Carr said.