Following the soft lockdown on August 23, the faculty and staff worked together to ensure the safety of the students.
This lockdown was due to the a student reporting empty casings found in a P.E. locker, and the investigation proved that the casings were from a starter pistol from a track meet last spring and showed to be no credible threat.
“We work closely with the Grayslake Police Department in order to know what’s going on in the area. They are the professionals and will tell us what’s happening and what we should do,” Principal Dr. James Roscoe said.
During a soft lockdown, teachers lock the doors of the classroom and remain there until otherwise told to. No one is allowed in the hallways or in and out of the building. For hard lockdowns, students must go to the side of the classroom that can be unseen from the door and turn off the lights and stay quiet. A hard lockdown is not required unless there is an immediate threat within the school or close area.
“In the case of the bullet shells, there was no immediate threat to anyone, so we decided to have teachers continue teaching, but students be kept within the classrooms. This was because we wanted to stay on the safer side of things,” said associate principal of student services Megan Licht.
During the time of any lockdown, security guards and hall monitors are working toward seeing that the building is safe.
“[The security guards] are the eyes and ears. They always have their walkie talkies and will do routine checks after every period to see if there’s any vandalism or insight that’s inside the building,” Roscoe said.
Staff are annually trained to be prepared in case of an emergency. This involves drills for any occasion and knowing protocol.
“In each classroom, there is a red folder that has files that have instructions for what to do in any emergency. That includes fire, tornado, and lockdown drills,” Licht said.
Grayslake North will continue to work closely with the police department in the future.
“Our number one priority is and always will be the students,” Roscoe said.