Unannounced School Safety Drill Causes Panic Among Students, Parents

Unannounced School Safety Drill Causes Panic Among Students, Parents

Parents and students were shocked after the Beaufort County School District's safety chief officer dressed as an intruder in an unannounced school safety drill.

On Monday afternoon, Beaufort High School students, parents and teachers were caught off guard when the school was suddenly thrown into lockdown after the district’s safety chief posed as an intruder.


Since then, several parents have took to Facebook to express their dissatisfaction with the unannounced school safety drill.


“Nice job Beaufort County School District,” Beaufort High parent Jordan Elizabeth Posey wrote on Facebook after the incident. “I understand drills but to have a person dressed in all black, BREAK AND THEN JUMP through the window of the high school CLASSROOM like a ninja, and run through the hallways, sending the school into what they ALL thought was a real lockdown was a BIT OVERKILL.” 


“My 9th grader was terrified,” Joe Tidwell commented on Posey’s post. “My 11th grader knew they have a history of over reacting...”


District spokesman Jim Foster told The Island Pocket that the safety chief did not run down the hallways nor did he break windows. However, he did not say how he entered the classroom.


Beaufort High School posted about the incident on Facebook shortly after it occurred, stating “district policies and procedures were followed and notifications were made as soon as possible.”


“We went into modified lock down followed by a full lock down to assess and take action regarding a report of an intruder on campus,” the school’s post read. “Although we had no pre-knowledge of the drill, we were able to quickly locate the BCSD Staff Member who was posing as the intruder.”


Posey said she did not want to spread misinformation, but was shocked at how everything happened.


“Children crying, teachers scared, and me racing to the school after getting texts from my TERRIFIED daughter...not ok,” she wrote. “Traumatizing the kids and staff is probably too much in my opinion.”


About the Author

Sherelle Black is a Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • A.C. Camargo Cancer Center Enhances Security, Patient Care with Help from Advanced Video Surveillance

    A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, a leading oncology treatment center in São Paulo, Brazil recognized for its history of innovation, today announced that its partnership with Axis Communications has produced savings of more than $2 million over its first two years, all of which will be reinvested in patient care. A.C. Camargo has deployed more than 2,000 state-of-the-art video surveillance cameras throughout the Center’s corridors, complex care units, and parking lots, embracing a more holistic approach to security that emphasizes patient and employee safety along with improved quality of service. Read Now

  • 2025 Secure Campus Award Winners Announced

    Campus Security Today is pleased to announce the 2025 Secure Campus Award winners. Twenty companies are being recognized this year for products that help keep education and business campuses safe. Read Now

  • K-12 School Safety Trends Report Shows Training, Technology Are Saving Lives

    CENTEGIX, the industry leader and most widely adopted wearable safety technology provider for K-12 education, today released its 2025 School Safety Trends Report, the only comprehensive and data-rich analysis of school safety available in the wearable panic button market. The report identifies and outlines the top tech and legislative movements relevant to school safety in the U.S. and draws on data collected in the 2024/2025 school year through the CENTEGIX Safety Platform, including more than 265,000 incidents of CrisisAlert use. Read Now

  • Survey: Fewer Than 20 Percent of School Leaders Consider Their Main Entrance “Completely Secure”

    Singlewire Software, provider of solutions that help keep people safe and informed, releases the findings of its inaugural School Entrance Security Report, which captured responses from more than 500 school staff members across the United States. This research highlights the concerns and challenges schools are facing in securing their entrances and keeping students and staff safe from potential threats Read Now