Dodge City High School runs crisis drill

    If you're wondering why you got stuck on U.S. Highway 50 Friday morning, it's all part of the drill.
    Dodge City High School students were evacuated from school as part of a schoolwide crisis exercise.
    Each year the school participates in a drill, which is designed to help prepare for emergency situations that could arise. Several years ago, the school had a bomb drill, and last year the school organized a drill so students and teachers would know what to do if an active shooter were on campus.
    This year, ninth- through 12th-grade students practiced a lockdown and evacuation drill.
    At 8:05 a.m., the school went into lockdown mode and proceeded as if there were a dangerous situation in part of the school. Students in vocational and physical education classes were evacuated to the field house.
    From there, they were loaded onto school buses and taken to the Civic Center by a police escort. To safely escort the buses, law enforcement blocked off a large portion of U.S. 50.
    Once the students arrived safely, they returned to their classes and the school day continued as usual.
    Throughout the drill, school officials communicated with the Dodge City Police Department, the Dodge City Fire Department, Ford County Sheriff's Office, the Kansas Highway Patrol and city workers.
    Assistant Principal Shawn Lampe said the evacuation process took approximately 40 minutes, which he said needs to be trimmed down. Lampe said school staff communicated with the police department and other city officials well, but there were still aspects of the evacuation plan to improve.
    "Every time we do a drill like this, we find a lot of things we need to work on and adjust," Lampe said. "Overall, everything went well, and the kids were well-behaved."

    Reach Cherise Forno at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at cherise.forno@dodgeglobe.com.