Question for any school employee

[Sleepy]

Are school fire drills planned? Thanks for answering.

 

[CheshireVal]

Yes. Not always announced ahead of time, but definitely planned by someone.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

Ours are planned . . .we have to have at least 10 fire drills per school year.

But, I can also tell you on the other hand, that as of today, we have not decided when we are doing them . . .

 

[T1130]

In mine the principal would let us know when they were going to be.

 

[Sleepy]

Ours are planned . . .we have to have at least 10 fire drills per school year.

But, I can also tell you on the other hand, that as of today, we have not decided when we are doing them . . .

But, you would know at least a day in adance that your school was having one? Would the office notify the teachers of the time the drill would take place or is that something only the principal would know? I have a reason for asking in such detail, but would rather not go into why.

 

[Maleficent13]

Sort of loses the point of a fire drill if everyone knows it's coming. Isn't the whole point for it to be unexpected, to simulate what it would be like in the event of a real fire?

I don't work in a school, but everywhere I have worked only one or two people planned and knew in advance...to everyone else it was a surprise.

 

[gemmie214]

The fire drill proceedures differed in each of the schools I have worked in. They were determined by the Fire Department.

I worked in one school (for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders) that was housed in two different towns while I worked there. The first town's Fire Chief was fine with letting the kids and staff know that there would be a fire drill and on what morning or afternoon but not a specific time.
The second town did not want the staff or the students to know at all, it had to be a surprise. Very tough on our student population but we handled it.

The Facilities Manager pulled the alarm. He and the Fire Department had a quarterly schedule.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

I can tell you that only the administration and some office workers know about the drill . . .the teachers and students do not know when it is coming.

 

[CEDmom]

In our district we have 2 drills a month. The principal and key staff know when they're coming but not the teachers. They purposely don't tell them and also schedule the drills at all different times in order to really test the process.

 

[Sleepy]

The principal and key staff know when they're coming but not the teachers.

More specifically, my question is more aimed toward the PRINCIPAL knowing that a drill will happen.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

Here, the principal is the one who lets administration know when there will be a drill . . .

 

[JoyG]

I've been in buildings where only the principal knew they were coming.

But, in the school I'm at now, we know the exact time and day the drill will happen. Some teachers even line the class up at the door in preparation for it.

 

[DVC Jen]

We have one every month. The teachers do NOT know it is going to happen.

 

[Longsx3]

I know you mentioned DOD schools before, so if you are asking regarding a DOD school, last year in Germany there were a couple that were not intitiated by school admin and they knew one was coming up but not exactly when. Hope that helps.

 

[Frantasmic]

Planned. We have to have them at least once per month. With a kid in kindergarten, we usually get a day's notice just so the kids don't freak out at the first one.

 

[gemmie214]

A good principal knows everything that goes on in the school.....

 

[Becky2005]

I've been in buildings where only the principal knew they were coming.

But, in the school I'm at now, we know the exact time and day the drill will happen. Some teachers even line the class up at the door in preparation for it.

OK, I just read that and am thinking that kind of defeats the whole purpose of a fire drill doesn't it?

I really don't know since I don't work in schools but I *DO* know they have them fairly early in the year, so I would think the teachers would be expecting it within days of school starting. My kids started this week, if I were to bet, next week they will have a fire drill one of the days. I'm sure someone knows ahead of time but probably not staff.

Since in Middle School last year DD was in gym class & the fire alarm was going off and NONE of them realized it for a few minutes because their fire alarm sounds exactly like when the office is going to make an announcement. It wasn't until another student noticed the flashing lights on the fire alarm thingy that it clicked that it was a fire alarm! I'm fairly sure the teachers weren't aware or they would have moved first thing. My DD did say they thought it was going on longer than usual but didn't conect the dots since they were 6th graders and had never heard the school's fire alarm before. That was just a drill.

THEN our grade school one year had a real fire alarm go off because someone burnt popcorn in the microwave. It was a good thing they knew the drill because DS wasn't in his classroom, he was in the library and another boy had gone to the washroom, so both of them ended up with other classes but the procedure to make sure all kids are accounted for worked.

If they had all lined up previously, they wouldn't have known the procedure of here is how you assemble, here is what you do when you are in a different location away from your class.

I don't think they really know the timeframe though just that it will happen that day.

 

[golfgal]

In our kids' old school, the first couple drills of the year, everyone knew about them, mainly so the younger kids wouldn't be afraid of the noise. Each of the classes practiced what to do before the actual drill. After that the principal would do some surprise ones, some where the teachers knew they were coming. After the first couple, the kids were never informed. A couple times/year the fire trucks would come to the school and the firemen would come, in full turn-out gear, and talk with the K-2 classes about fire safety. All the drills were coordinated with the fire department (the fire alarms are wired to the fire station so they can respond immediately). The principal always knew they were coming as did the fire department and head custodian, unless some kid pulled the alarm, only happened once in the 9 years we were at the school.

 

[ryka]

We have to have them 2 times a month. The principal schedules them and tells her secretary besides them the only other people that know is the special education teacher and her class. They have to be brought outside before it goes off because most of the kids in the class can not handle the sound of the alarm. If there ever was a real fire I'm not sure how they will handle it but she has a class of 8 students and 4 teachers aides so I guess they all know what to do.

 

[JoyG]

OK, I just read that and am thinking that kind of defeats the whole purpose of a fire drill doesn't it?

I agree. It defeats the purpose. I don't line my class up. Usually, by the time we get around to having the fire drill, I've forgotten that it was scheduled and I'm in the middle of teaching a very important lesson. My class is always taken by surprise .