An announcement comes over the intercom, notifying the school that a lockdown drill is about to commence. Teachers present the prescribed instructional slideshow, classroom doors lock, and everyone waits quietly for school staff to try and open the doors. Minutes later, a second announcement signals the end of the drill, and the school returns to its ordinary routine. For many BHS students, this routine is familiar; the same procedures are practiced every year. But familiarity with the procedure does not necessarily mean students are prepared for an actual emergency, or know what their community would do to support them if one were to occur.
Lockdown drills are intended to prepare students and staff to respond to the possibility of an armed intruder. Schools have an obligation to take that possibility seriously and prepare their communities for emergencies. Nationally, roughly 95 percent of schools now practice some form of active shooter drill, yet there is no consistent national guideline for how these drills should be run. But simply conducting the same drill year after year does not guarantee that students understand what they are supposed to do or why they are doing it.
BHS already has a detailed safety plan. Administrators are responsible for calling 911, providing police with information, and coordinating with emergency officials. The problem is that having a plan only prepares students if they actually understand it — and right now, most don’t.
Students may know how to lock the door and stay quiet, but they don’t know what happens beyond their classroom. Understanding what teachers are expected to do, how administrators respond, and the Berkeley Police Department's role in ensuring students’ safety is essential to actually feeling, and being, prepared. Right now, that information largely stays behind the scenes.
Students should have access to a clear, age-appropriate explanation of the parts of the plan that affect them. BUSD shouldn’t rely solely on yearly drills to communicate its emergency protocols; that information should be accessible to all students at all times.
Moreover, repeating the same instructions every year can have the opposite of the intended effect; students may tune them out, leading to little retention. The district should not assume that a drill is successful simply because everyone followed the instructions. Students should understand the purpose behind the procedures and how their actions fit into the larger response.
There is also a real discourse about how these drills are delivered. On one hand, treating lockdown procedures too casually undercuts how seriously students take them. On the other, a starker, more graphic approach carries its own risk — potentially being traumatizing without necessarily making anyone feel safer. Striking that balance should be part of how BUSD reevaluates its current materials.
BUSD should make its emergency procedures more accessible to students and ensure that the information provided during lockdown drills is clear and consistent. BHS must also update its lockdown presentation more frequently so that it reflects current events and evolving student needs, rather than staying static year after year.
Beyond updating the materials themselves, the district should ask students directly whether the drills are working. Surveying students after lockdown drills — asking whether they understood the instructions and know what their role would be in an actual emergency — would give BUSD a concrete way to measure whether the drills are actually building preparedness rather than just producing a room full of students who know how to be quiet for five minutes.
Students need to understand that the goal of a lockdown drill is not simply compliance; it’s knowing how to respond if an emergency actually occurs, and knowing that their school and community have a real plan to support them.