Hartselle City Schools will not conduct an active shooter drill during normal school hours, according to a safety committee consisting of school administrators, Hartselle Fire and Rescue, Hartselle Police Department, Morgan County Emergency Management Agency officials, parents and teachers.

In an email sent to employees at each of the system’s schools, School Superintendent Dr. Mike Reed said the committee recommended conducting a “mock intruder drill,” but it would be held during “non-school hours.” The Enquirer obtained a copy of the letter.

Here is the text of the email:

To keep you updated, the Safety Committee met today. Below are the results of their meeting. I hope this information will be helpful to you.

As previously announced, Hartselle City Schools has formed a safety committee which consists of school administrators, Hartselle City Fire and Police, Morgan County Emergency Management Agency officials, parents, and teachers.

The purpose of this committee is to review and evaluate our current safety practices and provide recommendations for improvements as the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff and administrators is the utmost priority.

The committee has made the following recommendations as part of an ongoing consolidated safety and security plan for Hartselle City Schools. These recommendations are in addition to the current safety practices and exercises currently in place and will take place over the course of the next 12 months.

1. Continue current lock-down drills district-wide. These drills are currently conducted at all schools at least once per year.

2. Coordinate with Hartselle City Police, Fire and school officials in a combination lock-down and evacuation drill. Although Hartselle City Schools has both lock-down and evacuation procedures, these procedures have never been practiced in conjunction with one another. The purpose of this drill will be to evaluate our procedures and learn if adjustments should be needed in the event of a lock-down followed by evacuation incident.

3. Coordinate with Hartselle City Schools Faculty, City Police and Fire, Morgan County Emergency Management Agency as well as community volunteers to conduct a mock intruder drill in one of the schools during NON SCHOOL HOURS. The purpose of this drill will be to evaluate communication and coordination among all public agencies and school system in the event of a school intruder incident. The school location for this drill will be determined at a later date and it will take place during non-school hours and students will not need to be present.

4. Continue school safety assessments that began in December, 2012 to determine if additional security equipment or resources are needed for individual schools.

We appreciate the time and effort of the safety committee and feel that these recommendations will strengthen our current safety plan. These recommendations will be presented to the Board of Education at its next meeting scheduled for February 11. The Board will vote at that time on whether to move forward with these four recommendations.

Please feel free to contact Jerry Reeves, Director of School Operations, at 256-773-5419 if you have questions or need additional information.

Thank you,

Mike Reed, Ed.D.

Superintendent