Last year, Public Act 100-996 amended the School Safety Drill Act requiring school Districts to conduct at least one law enforcement drill that “addresses an active threat or an active shooter within a school building.”   To be in compliance with the statute, schools must complete the drill within the first 90 days of school, must hold drills in all of the buildings that house students, must complete the drill on days when students are normally present, and must conduct the drill in conjunction with law enforcement officials.  The Act was amended to ensure that students and staff are adequately prepared in case of an active shooter.  

The Byron Community Unit School District will be having our law enforcement drill on November 13, 2019, in all three buildings at the following times: Mary Morgan Elementary, 9:00 AM; Byron Middle School, 10:00 AM; and Byron High School, 1:30 PM.  All three drills will be completed with the support of our local Byron Police Department and the Ogle County Sherriff’s department.  

Our District has implemented several new measures over the last year and a half to help improve in the area of school safety.  One of the most important steps our District has taken is training staff on the A.L.I.C.E principles.  ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate and is widely used in schools and other organizations across the nation for emergency response situations (i.e. acts of targeted aggression and/or active shooter scenarios).   

In preparation for the upcoming State-mandated Law Enforcement Drills, we will be training our students on the principles of ALICE.  

Please stay tuned for more information from each building principal on the details each drill.