Joppatowne High, nationwide school shootings prompt action to improve active shooter drills

BALTIMORE -- With the number of school shootings across the country, including one earlier this month at Joppatowne High School, leaders in our nation's capital want more to be done to save lives and minimize trauma. 

The Biden administration announced a new series of executive orders aimed at reducing gun violence, including an action that will direct federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills.

According to the White House, in this order, information will be provided to schools that include a summary of:

• Existing research on active shooter drills and resources for school districts and institutions of higher education on how to create, implement and evaluate evidence-informed active shooter drills.
• How to conduct effective and age- and developmentally-appropriate drills.
• How best to communicate with students, families and educators about these drills.
• How to prevent students and educators from experiencing trauma or psychological distress associated with these drills.
• How best to serve people with disabilities and those with language-related needs, including by ensuring compliance with federal civil rights laws, when designing and implementing school-based active shooter drills.  

Impacts of school violence

From Apachee High School in Georgia to Joppatowne High School in Harford County, school violence has made life uneasy for parents, teachers and students.

"We're reminded that schools across the country, and even here closer to home, we have seen them be the target of threats and dangerous activities," Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said.

This normalized culture of fear and gun violence has exhausted the thoughts and prayers, which is why President Biden signed orders to better prepare teachers and students for the inevitable.

"There's a heavy focus on how we make sure that we're improving school safety and the preparedness of schools before a tragedy strikes," said Gregory Jackson, the deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. 

Baltimore County's safety plan

Olszewski invested more than $800 million into Baltimore County Public Schools to keep students safe, which includes the omnilert, more School Resource Officers, support for mental health issues and artificial intelligence weapons detection cameras.

"We are pleased to support 83 SROs across our schools," Olszewski said. "We're also investing significantly more dollars in more school counselors, more social workers, more peer personnel workers."  

Gun violence prevention plan

This series of presidential executive orders focus on combating emerging firearms threats with an emphasis on safe storage for those who legally carry. 

The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention says that in 76% of school shootings, the guns are coming from home, which highlight the need for safe storage and preparedness.

"A big part of what we will focus on is, how do we ensure that these drills are as effective as possible?" Jackson said. "Also, how we minimize the traumatic impact of experiencing these drills, recognizing that there are ways that these have been done poorly that have caused harm to psyche, and really reinforce the fear amongst our youth and amongst parents."