Last month, a security consulting group met with some teachers and administrators to evaluate campus security and train teachers how to anticipate and react to emergencies like school violence and other potentially dangerous situations last month.

This is the first year that Hammond has worked with The Draco Group. Mr. Lumpkin explained the visit: “In light of recent national tragedies, [there is] motivation to review our procedures.”

The types of procedures Mr. Lumpkin talked about included not only school shooters and malicious individuals but also fires or unexpected visitors As a result of their visit, tourniquet kits have been added to every classroom.

Hammond first reached out to Draco in the spring of 2018 to review the procedures and overall safety level of Hammond. They surveyed things like building layout and the fences and gates around campus. Then, this past summer, they instructed teachers in general self-defense, first aid, and disarming a shooter.

With Draco’s latest visit, they focused on instructing teachers how to identify suspicious characters, along with teaching core principles that were building-specific. For example, the layout of the Innovation Center is different than Barks Hall. Therefore, the approach in responding to an emergency in each building should be different.

Mr. Beaver, for example, teaches in the Innovation Center and was among the teachers who attended the meeting.  When asked about the procedure regarding his room, Mr. Lumpkin and Mr. Beaver confirmed that they were given notes on what to do for specific emergencies and new principles to implement.

Mr. Lumpkin said that the faculty at Hammond were being taught principles, not just protocols.

“If there were a fire, protocol for that situation would be to leave the building by finding the nearest exit. Principles for that situation would be to leave the building by avoiding the fire,” Mr. Lumpkin said.

The goal is to give teachers a core set of rules to guide them in making the most informed decisions in a given emergency as well as preventing those situations in the first place.

In the case of a violent individual, Draco focused their instruction on how to identify these potential threats.

“In a lot of cases, we are to look out for someone who shouldn’t be there,” Mr. Beaver said.

In addition, teachers were taught how to interact with unexpected visitors.

Overall, the meeting with The Draco Group is part of a larger effort to prepare and reassure the Hammond community. These measures and re-evaluations are intended to prevent emergencies and ensure the right actions are taken in the event of one. Teachers said that they felt empowered and better prepared after attending this and previous meetings, and though Draco’s instruction is new to Hammond, the school has been addressing how to respond to school violence for the past eight years.

As part of the on-going evaluation of campus security, some future plans may include the scanning license plates to keep track of traffic on and off campus.  If implemented, it could potentially impact the number of Chick-fil-A trips taken by underclassmen. However, that would not be the major focus of this new tool.

“Part of the reason parents send their kids to Hammond is to feel safe,” Mrs. Riley said.