Parents will not be informed during active shooter drills

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Parents with students in Central Florida schools will not receive a notice when an active shooter drill is going to be conducted.

A new law that was approved after the Parkland shooting requires that schools conduct the drills, but it does not require the school to notify the parents beforehand or at any point after the drill is over.

Rock Lake Middle School principal Jordan Rodriguez said he is going to notify parents after the drill is over.

“This is a means of making sure that I don't have parents driving up, potentially speeding, trying to get here, getting into a car accident, when it was by no means necessary to do so,” Rodriguez said.

Certain schools have been performing drills for years, but now they are mandated, and many schools notify parents after the drill is over. The schools can notify the parents through social media, text message or voicemail.

“The feedback we get from parents is overwhelmingly positive in terms of, 'Thank you so much for making sure we're in the loop and knowing what's going on,'” Rodriguez said.

He said the next drill is planned for Rock Lake, but parents and students will not be informed ahead of time.

Each county has a set number of drills that they will be performing. In Orange County they will be doing nine and Lake County will be doing two. Rock Lake Middle School will be conducting four drills.

Cox Media Group