Deaf Students and Active Shooters: School Safety
By Danielle Landreville, North Dakota H&V
WWHD–What would Hunter Do? This is how I go through most of my life since becoming a mother of a child who is also Deaf.
A large active shooter event occurred in an elementary school in May 2022. As school was ending that summer, I had to think about what my son would do in that situation. What would he do if he was in the hallway or bathroom and something like this was called overhead? What if someone yelled something out in the hallway? What if there were shots being heard down the hallway? So many scenarios went through my head, and I wondered how he would know what was happening during an event like that. The protocols currently are to keep all doors closed. Would he have any idea why the doors were locking him in…or keeping him out? Not having answers did not seem like a reason not to ask the questions. I brought up the idea of emergency planning to my son’s school and IEP team to address an event like this happening with my son in mind.
Often new issues come up in our struggles with advocacy that require us to fight the good fight. I want everyone to know that sometimes we have to blaze a new trail. Do not be discouraged if there is a lack of precedent for what you are asking. Active shooter plans are fairly new, and protocols for profoundly Deaf children who are main-stream with interpreters in fairly rural areas are not readily available. It is not as if we could Google what other districts have been doing. I have spent the entirety of the 2022-2023 school year from August to April requesting a plan over and over, both at formal and informal meetings, as well as IEPs, and over email and text.
I began asking from the start, for a light system similar to a Deaf fire alarm, but of a different color. Their initial proposed fix to this issue was for my 8-year-old to have a friend accompany him at all times when he leaves the classroom. Now this is in no way “least restrictive environment,” and it singles him out as very much different from his peers. Why should our kids be treated differently? The second suggestion was to appoint one of the adults from his room to be responsible for him in the event the school locks down for an active shooter event. Yet, who should be responsible to risk their life to leave the locked-down room to search for a Deaf student? It does not seem reasonable or remotely within the job requirements to expect the interpreter to risk their life to go find the student; however, this was suggested. What about the teacher? This was not suggested, but I suppose this could be the next choice. My point here is simple: with an active shooter in the building, it is not realistic to expect school staff to risk their lives to run out into the unknown, leaving a secure room to search for a student.
Having a light system that can accurately notify a Deaf student of an active shooter event so they can take shelter and hide themselves until an all-clear light goes off is what should happen. It allows the child to be autonomous in his activities throughout the school in day-to-day life. Should such a tragedy arise, he or she can be responsible for hiding themselves. If they can get back to their room, perhaps they can have a specific knock that only their interpreter and teacher know to get back in the room. Otherwise, they plan to hide in other areas throughout the school that would be safe. All students can practice with this equipment during drills as well. (I have learned some schools warn the deaf/hard of hearing students and staff ahead of time, robbing all of a chance to practice a critical sequence of actions.) As we enter the last month or so of this school year, I recently addressed our ongoing struggle to resolve this lack of access to a workable plan with our school superintendent. It is my hope that we can enter the 2023 school year with a light system outfitted in my son’s building that satisfies the Americans with Disabilities Act guiding principle of effective communication. He should receive specific warnings equal to his hearing peers, should that awful day come when he needs it. This would serve all children. ~
H&V Communicator – Summer 2023