SAN ANTONIO – The South San Antonio Independent School District is expanding its security measures in case of an emergency.
The district is holding lockdown drills, which include active shooter situations and severe weather drills.
The goal is to familiarize district faculty with emergency lockdown situations.
The training is being held "to give our district leadership principals and assistant principals the feeling of going through what an active shooter situation would look like as far as clearing the rooms, the sounds of the gun," said Gary Long, district safety and security coordinator.
Long said timing and preparation are vital in a lockdown situation. Thirty seconds could be the difference between success and failure.
The district said it plans to work with the San Antonio Police Department, firefighters and emergency medical services personnel in the future. It said communication between the organizations, staff members and parents will be important.
"It's going to be very communicative. It's going to be internal with our drilling processes, making sure our parents know what we are doing to put our kids in the best position possible to be safe, (keep) our staff safe, our community," Long said.
Long believes that communication will also play a major role in getting the district and its campuses on the same page.
"It’s going to be able to take our 13 campuses and will be able unify our safety procedures (and) what we are doing as far as codes," Long said.
There are no known threats to the district or any of its schools, but Long said he is confident South San ISD will be ready if there is ever an emergency situation.