School district adopts new emergency protocols

The Monterey Peninsula UnifIed School District is adopting a different strategy for handling active shooters. It’s called ALICE, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. While the acronym shouldn’t be taken in a sequential order, the idea is to escape in as little time as possible.

After a classroom session, some 60 administrators from MPUSD participated in four active shooter simulations at Seaside Middle School on Monday .

ALICE goes one step above traditional lockdowns where teachers lock their doors, turn off the lights and have students hide under their desks. Supporters of the new protocols argue children know what to do in a fire, but need to understand what to do if there is a hostile intruder.

“A” is for alert. It’s the preliminary report of an active shooter.

“Many times, it’s the sound of gunfire or screaming that’s the alert,” said Al Bahn, national instructor at ALICE Training Institute. “It’s important to get two pieces of information out. Location of suspect and a description.”

“L” is for lockdown. If someone can’t run, they’re advised to shelter in place and barricade the door with desks, chairs or anything that will stop an attacker from coming in.

“I” is to inform. Bahn said it’s a continuation of alert, but can also act as a deterrant to an attacker.

“It tells the attacker we know what he’s doing, and that in itself distracts the attacker from accomplishing their goal,” Bahn said.

As a last resort, “C” is for counter.

“Counter can be anything from yelling to screaming to distract the intruder,” said Tony Shah, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services. “Counter can mean throwing items nearby. Counter could also mean four to five people grabbing every limb of the intruder to minimize fatalities and save lives.”

The main goal is “E,” evacuate.

Bahn said seconds could mean the difference between life and death in an active shooter situation.

“The more that run in multiple directions, the higher the rate of survival,” Bahn said. “The killer can only train their weapon at one direction at any second.”

School administrators will take this information and implement it as they see fit at their respective schools.

Ed Smith, who runs Onbase Leadership, works with the school district to implement a state requirement that all schools undergo annual site safety comprehensive plans. He and his teams survey the MPUSD schools to look for vulnerabilities and ways to improve. ALICE is a branch of that.

On the Central Coast, many schools have open campuses, which can pose challenges. That’s why it’s important these administrators tweak the protocol as they see fit.

“Many of the schools in the MPUSD district are on larger campuses with surrounding trees or in neighborhoods, and they’re open,” Smith said. “That doesn’t mean there’s fences or gates to go through to go into the campus. That’s a good thing for the environment of student learning but on the other hand, that does present some challenges for emergency planning.”

ALICE isn’t just for schools. It can be used in places of worship and workplaces.

MPUSD isn’t the only school district in the Monterey County interested in the program. Alisal and Salinas Union High School District are also interested.

ORIGINAL POST: School officials in the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District are learning the basics of a new emergency response protocol for active shooter situations.

The program is called ALICE, which stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. The school district hopes it will enable schools to move beyond lockdown procedures and increase the chance of survival in the event of a violent intruder.

KION’s Mariana Hicks will have details on the training tonight at 5 and 6 p.m..