DCHS Conducts Annual Lock Down Exercise

DeKalb County High School conducted its annual lock down exercise Tuesday morning.
Principal Kathy Hendrix said the school is required to have the drill at least once a year to practice what to do in the event of an intruder in the building. Local and area law enforcement officials are also usually called upon during the drill to bring their drug dogs to do a pass through around the lockers and in the parking lot. “We are required to do a lock down so usually when we decide to do the lock down we have the drug dogs come out. Just like fire drills and tornado drills, we have to practice a lock down for if there were an intruder in the building. During the drill, all students are to remain in classrooms. The doors to the classrooms are locked and no one is allowed out of the classrooms unless we come for them with a pass code. That’s when we usually have the drug dogs to come out and go through the parking lot and around the locker area (inside the school),” said Hendrix.
“We do this every year,” she said. ” This is just a way of securing the campus. We do it as a deterrent to students bringing drugs to school. That is the reason we do it. We did have them go through the parking lot. One of our staff members went with each of the people (officers) going through. I went through the locker area with them. I was with them all during that time. The students were locked in the classrooms. They (students) were not around the dogs. It was secure,” said Hendrix.
Members of the Smithville Police Department along with White County, Cannon County, and Putnam County law enforcement agencies were at the school with their K-9 units (drug dogs) for this unannounced visit, but according to Principal Hendrix, no illegal substances were found . “There was nothing unusual. Everything turned out great and we got it finished in one block. So I thought everything went well,” said Principal Hendrix.