School safety is a top priority, especially with the rise of dangerous circumstances in high schools. Districts have put procedures into place in order to keep students and staff on campus safe in case of an emergency. In the Chandler Unified School District, lockdowns and fire drill procedures are currently in place as a way of protecting students and staff physically. 

Fire drills are practiced at least once a month in the CUSD district. According to assistant principal and athletic director, Jennifer Burkes believes that “it’s not always so much that there might be a fire, but it’s how quickly we evacuate the building if we need to get out.” Fire drills help protect students in case of any kind of emergency that involves evacuating the building. 

Due to the fact that dangerous situations such as school shootings are on the rise, lockdown drills prepare students for emergencies such as intruders entering the building or suspicious activity. These procedures are placed for the safety of the students and staff members in case they are put into a dangerous situation.

According to Officer Jesse Allen lockdowns, “Give students that first step with it, something that they have in the back of their head that they practice.” Drills are meant to make handling emergencies and dangerous situations secondhand nature. Allen continued, “Right now, there’s a lot of talk about active shootings. So, if the first thing they remember is to hide, then that already gets them moving in the right direction.” The importance of drills is to create a mindset of knowing what to do and how to be safe in an emergency.

Fire drills and lockdowns are meant to keep students and staff safe. They are made to protect everyone physically and keep people from putting themselves and others into high-risk situations.