Palmyra high school will host Lebanon County DES exercise on May 9

Palmyra Area Senior High School will be the staging ground for a county-wide exercise run by Lebanon County Department of Emergency Services on Saturday, May 9.

The drill will include local law enforcement, fire departments, EMS, and county agencies. Some school personnel, including volunteer staff members, will also be involved and gain safety training hours. Students and families will have a chance to volunteer in an afternoon mock reunification process.

The North Londonderry Township Board of Supervisors approved a road closure on the day of the event on Park Drive, between Ash Street and Lynnwood Drive, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The road will only be accessible for local traffic.

“In large part, it’s for safety. It’s one extra step to make sure there’s not an issue with an active firearm somehow gaining its way into a training venue,” school superintendent Bernie Kepler said. “But also for that mobility. If we have an issue here, there’s no cars coming near Park Drive.”

School officials are working to get the word out about the closure and that neighbors will see emergency service action at the school. Kepler said they aren’t sure exactly what the emergency will be, but there’s a chance nearby residents could hear gunfire.

“DES has some things up their sleeve. I don’t know — nobody in our organization knows the scenario they’re going to give us because we’re not going to know in a real situation, so how do we respond?” he said. “And we have to respond to all those unknowns.”

The active intruder drill will conclude around noon.

“The active assailant piece would end,” Kepler said. “Now we’re at one of our reunification sites and having parents go through our process of what does that look like?”

The process will include showing identification, and district staff checking the system to ensure the adult is authorized to take the student home. Kepler said DES might even give parents guidance on how to respond to the situation, whether they are angry at staff or emotional, or have an adult try to pick up a child they aren’t authorized to in order to test staff.

The point of the exercise for DES and the district is to test procedures and communication, and look for areas to improve.

Kepler provided a letter to the high school’s neighbors, informing them about road closures and what they might expect on May 9.

Palmyra Area School District safety procedures

Kepler said the district is trained on variable responses to emergencies based on the scenario. If there is a violent intruder in a school, staff and students are advised that they should evacuate if possible. If escape isn’t feasible in the situation, they are told to make themselves difficult targets.

That can mean turning off the lights, locking the door, and hiding in the classroom so an intruder might not know there’s anyone in the room. It can also include using furniture to barricade the door and preparing for self-defense.

Kepler said past school violence has shown that targets making themselves more difficult to injure or kill led to better outcomes.

The district, he said, relies on information to keep everyone safe. Students are able to go to a trusted staff member if they hear anything, or they can submit an anonymous report through Safe2Say.

Kepler said Safe2Say reports are usually about small things like students vaping, but it’s an opportunity for kids to reach out when they hear something concerning.

“Kids will help keep us safe because they often know or see or hear things before we would,” he said.

According to Kepler, there have been a handful of situations over the past several years where the district worked with law enforcement and communicated with families. There are also many false tips that they work through until they can ensure safety.

He said they’re hoping to receive feedback from DES and emergency services about where the district can improve on safety. Kepler said he meets with local emergency services quarterly throughout the year, alternating which of the district’s schools they meet at, to review security plans and take tours to become familiar with the layouts.

“If there’s a message I would send to our community and our parents that send their children to us everyday is we believe that Palmyra Area School District is a very safe place,” Kepler said. “We’ve got great kids, great families, great relationships with our kids, and I think that’s one of the most important things we can do to add to school safety is have a relationship with our students where they’re talking to us.”