Lockdown and Shelter-in-Place Checklist

Pull the CSSP (or state equivalent) and verify the lockdown and shelter-in-place annexes match current building layout, staffing, and door numbering. Plans more than 12 months old typically need a board-level re-adoption before drills can count toward state mandates.

Confirm Raptor (or your visitor system) is live at every entry point staff use during arrival, sex-offender screening is enabled, and the front-desk badge printer has stock. A propped side door defeats the system entirely — walk the perimeter at the start of the run.

Walk every classroom: door locks from the inside without a key, sight-line cover is installed on the vision panel, and the room number is visible from the hallway and from outside. Note any doors that require keying from the hallway — those are a known active-shooter response gap.

Document deficiencies in the work-order system; do not leave them to memory.

Sync the SIS (PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Aeries) to the mass-notification platform so the rosters match. Test the robocall, SMS, and email channels. Families without smartphones must still receive notice — confirm the call channel reaches landlines.

Name the primary incident commander (typically the principal), a first alternate (assistant principal or dean), and a second alternate. The role does not transfer informally during an event — write the order of succession into the plan and post it in the main office.

Email or call the school resource officer and the local PD watch commander with the date, time window, and whether the drill is announced or unannounced. Surprise drills without law-enforcement coordination generate 911 calls from staff and parents and erode trust.

Walk staff through the protocol the district has adopted — ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) or the I Love U Guys Standard Response Protocol (Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter, Hold). Mixing terminology across classrooms is the most common source of drill confusion.

Send a translated message via ParentSquare 24-48 hours in advance for announced drills. Include language for families to debrief with anxious children. Several states now require advance parent notice — check your state's school safety statute.

Use the protocol's exact phrasing — no improvisation. Repeat the announcement at least twice. If the PA is compromised, use the InformaCast or Singlewire mass-notification fallback to push the alert to staff phones and classroom displays.

The incident commander or designee calls 911 from the main office, gives the building address and the nature of the threat, and stays on the line until law enforcement arrives. A single coordinated call beats dozens of fragmented staff calls.

Each classroom teacher takes attendance against the Go-Bag roster and reports status (all present, missing students, injured, sheltering with another class) via the agreed channel — typically a Google Form, Remind, or radio. Bathrooms, gyms, and cafeterias are common gaps; assign a sweep team in advance.

Provide responding officers with names, descriptions, and last known locations of any unaccounted students or staff. Do not send school staff to search — that is law enforcement's role once they are on scene.

Only law enforcement gives the all-clear, not the principal. Confirm in person with the on-scene incident commander. Announce all-clear via the same channels used for the initial lockdown.

If reunification is required, activate the pre-designated off-site location (typically a partner school, church, or rec center within walking or busing distance). Use the Standard Reunification Method: separate parent check-in, student holding, and reunifier areas.

Check ID against the SIS emergency contact list and any custody flags before releasing a student. FERPA and custody orders apply even in a crisis — releasing a student to a non-custodial parent is one of the highest-risk failures during reunification.

Convene the incident commander, law enforcement liaison, custodial lead, front-office staff, and at least two classroom teachers. Walk the timeline minute by minute. Capture what worked, what failed, and concrete corrective actions with named owners.

Submit through the state's school safety reporting portal (varies by state — California SARC, Texas TEA incident reporting, etc.). For independent schools, file with the accreditor as required. Higher-ed campuses with federal funding consider Clery implications.