Editorial: Fire Drill Plan Goes Up in Flames

T.C. Williams has been under fire for many things this year. From the forfeit of varsity basketball games to its new “Persistently Lowest Achieving (PLA)” title, T.C. has become the butt of many jokes. On a not so humorous note, T.C. recently received a bomb/shooting threat. While the rumors turned out to be more hyped than the facts, what if it really happened? How would staff and students know what to do? Does anyone remember the last time T.C. had a scheduled drill for anything, let alone for a bomb/shooting threat?
The answer is too long ago. According to Virginia Code § 22.1-137, “In every public school there shall be a fire drill at least once every week during the first twenty school days of each school session, and more often if necessary, in order that pupils may be thoroughly practiced in such drills. During the remainder of the school session fire drills shall be held at least monthly.” The first four fire drills in the first month of school were successful, but the alarms began to collect dust soon afterward. Our last fire drill happened about two months ago, and no one even knew that it was scheduled. Fire drills, however, are not the only drills required by Virginia law.
Virginia Code § 22.1-137 says, “In every public school there shall be at least one tornado drill every school year, in order that students may be thoroughly practiced in such drills.” T.C. was supposed to participate in a statewide tornado drill on March 16. Yet March 16 came and went with no sirens. Alexandria is not exactly a hotbed of tornado activity, but that does not rule out the possibility that one could strike tomorrow. If that were the case, where would students go? The locker rooms? The first and second floor hallways? The auditorium? How are more than 2,200 students supposed to fit in these places? Unfortunately, there are not many window-less places in T.C. to cram the entire student body into. Are there even designated tornado emergency shelters? The fact that these are even questions for students reveals the problem.
I would like to say that the reason the T.C. administration has been so lax when it comes to the monthly fire drills is because of the time lost from the so-called “Winter Break 2.0.” Even the PLA title recently bestowed upon T.C. would be a semi-legitimate excuse (one in seven students does not pass his/her English SOLs, one in four students does not pass his/her math SOLs, and zero in over 2,200 students evacuate the building in an orderly fashion during a fire drill). Students must be prepared for emergency, no matter how cumbersome the training process may be. But for now, let’s just give the administration the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was unaware of this law.
Whether the administration is aware of the law or not, something needs to be done about it. There are two more months left in school. That’s two more required fire drills. It’s not too late for a tornado drill either. Whatever happens, the T.C. administration must start following the rules. After all, how can students be expected to follow the rules when the administration doesn’t?