SABINA, Ohio — East Clinton School District conducted a full-scale emergency reunification drill, testing how staff would respond and reconnect students with families during a crisis situation.
The exercise simulated an active shooter incident that left multiple students injured and deceased, creating realistic challenges for school staff, local law enforcement, counselors and community volunteers.
Watch how the drill went in the video below:
"We've done trainings like this for the past several years and are trying to make sure that our staff are fully prepared for an incident like this," said Superintendent Eric MaGee, East Clinton School District. "We've been involved with the county EMA for a couple of years, with some training, probably four or five years at East Clinton and other schools. So some continued conversation with Clinton County EMA and the Sheriff's Department led to today."
During the drill, I played the role of a parent looking for their child, joining others who portrayed various emotional states — from calm to distressed to intoxicated — to test how staff would handle different scenarios.
The drill included a simulated press briefing to practice media engagement during a crisis, with local law enforcement and school officials participating alongside media representatives.
The Sabina Police Department participated and shared that at times this process can be long while making sure every student goes with the right parent. After each exercise, a reset was put in place to go over different role scenarios.
"I think today was successful. We had a good number of staff and many community volunteers to come out. And just to go through this process. It's kind of an afterthought in an emergency-type situation. But an extremely important one in getting kids back to their families," said MaGee.
By the end of the exercise, every simulated student was successfully reunited with their family, allowing the district to evaluate what worked well and what needs improvement in their emergency response procedures.
