Callaway Highschool conducts lockdown drills after recent school threats

TROUP COUNTY, Ga. ( WRBL ) — All schools in the state of Georgia are required by law to complete a lockdown drill by Oct. 1. Monday morning, Callaway High School in Troup County completed theirs.

Jason Graham, the principal of Callaway High School says the purpose of the drill is to ensure that in the worst-case scenario of an active threat inside or outside the building.

“We have specific instructions. All students and staff know exactly what to do in that situation. The communication is very clear and consistent, and we’re able to secure our entire building inside and outside quickly, “Graham says.

The drill began with Graham putting the school in a hard lockdown. In seconds, alarms in the school went off with a message coming through the intercom. Administrators, student resource officers, and law enforcement hurried down the halls of Callaway High School to ensure the safety of all students, faculty, and staff.

Stewart Smith with the Troup County Sheriff’s Office explains this portion of the protocol.

“The first part was just to make sure the doors are secured. The second thing is to make sure that the students and staff are not visible,” says Smith. “If we can see through the doors of the windows, because the goal is to lock the doors, turn the lights down and get everybody away from the doors and the windows, that any potential threat could see them.”

“That is the number one most important thing,” says Graham. “That has to be the culture in our building. Our culture has to be one that we understand the need.”

Graham says everyday classroom doors should be closed and locked as part of a daily routine.

Callaway High School has a student body that comes on and off the campus at different items of the day. The school has reduced the number of entry points on campus where students have to use a badge to scan into open doors. Students are then greeted by the weapon detection screening that was implemented two years ago.

Rehearsing the lockdown drill weeks after the school shooting at Apalachee High School was not lost on administrators and law enforcement.

Graham says the drill resonates on a different level this time around.

“The reality is it can happen anywhere at any time, but what we have to ensure is that we don’t live in fear, that we maintain the mindset that our schools are safe. We make sure that we’ve done everything that we can to secure our schools.”

Jason Graham, Principal of Callaway High School in Troup County

Smith says running the drill while the recent event is still fresh on everyone’s mind made it even more important to know the proper protocol surrounding that scenario.

“But with the relevancy of Barrow County… I had the goal of to make sure we’re doing this right.”

Stewart Smith, Public Information Officer with Troup County Sheriff’s Office

Smith and Graham say they plan to practice the drill in different real-world scenarios to further be prepared.

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