Scott City Elementary changes procedure for tornado drill

After seeing surveillance camera footage of the tornado that struck the high school in Caruthersville, Mo., last April, some school officials updated their safety procedures while others have chosen to keep them the same.

All area schools participated in a statewide tornado drill at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of Missouri's Severe Weather Awareness Week.

"Each time we practice the drills, we learn something we can tweak," said superintendent Diann Bradshaw-Ulmer of the Scott City School District. "In a school with 1,200 people, you're always learning."

Scott City school and emergency officials noted that Caruthersville students would have been hurt if the storm had passed through on a school day because the roof collapsed in the hallways. At Scott City Elementary School, students no longer evacuate to the hallway, Bradshaw-Ulmer said. State and local authorities decided the long corridors might create a vacuum, so students have been told to huddle up against the wall opposite the windows in their classrooms.

As air horns sounded in the middle of a lesson on state quarters Tuesday, the 14 students in Carie Boswell's first-grade class quickly got out of their seats to kneel against the wall and tuck their heads.

Aside from some initial complaints about the noise of the siren, students were silent.

"You're going to get hot, and you're going to be uncomfortable," Boswell told them, "but that's OK for now. Hang in there. You'll be all clear in just a minute."

When a voice came over the PA system announcing the drill was over, the children began talking again. "I'm dizzy," one said.

The tornado drill was their fourth emergency drill of the day. The others prepared them for intruders, earthquakes and fires.

Other area schools participated in the tornado drill and re-evaluated their strategies too. "It's something that we look at on a school-to-school basis," said Fred Jones, safety coordinator for the Cape Girardeau School District.

Members of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department examined the facilities with Jones and agreed that students would be safest on the lowest floor away from windows and furniture in classrooms, a procedure that was previously followed. "We try to get people to a cross hall or lower basement area," Jones said. "We believe that's the safest method for our schools."

Jim Welker, assistant superintendent of the Jackson School District, said school officials have been reviewing emergency procedures since last fall. "We take it very seriously," he said.

No major changes had been made in Jackson schools.

All the schools have adapted procedures from the State Emergency Management Agency as a guideline. This includes teachers working in teams, communication through walkie-talkies and using emergency manuals.

tkrakowiak@semissiourian.com

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