Bridgehampton Plans Ahead for Emergencies

The Bridgehampton School District is strengthening safety measures within the school and is consulting with the man who wrote the book on school safety. John P. Moran, director of school safety and transportation for the Hamptons Bays School District, has toured the school and is working with Lois Favre, the superintendant, and the school emergency response team to further the school’s safety goals.

The Bridgehampton School’s expansion plan, which was just approved, includes a new gymnasium, locker rooms, fitness center, music and tech rooms, and a cafeteria. In the existing building, built in the 1930s, the library and media center, auditorium, and classrooms will be reconstructed.

“The superintendent was wise to reach out,” Mr. Moran said from his office in Hampton Bays. “Whenever you have new rooms and buildings, you need to rethink safety in an emergency — as well as be prepared now.”

Part of a new response to emergency situations is characterized as “hide, run, fight.”

“It used to be that there would be a lockdown and teachers would just be instructed to get their children and hide. That’s changing now.” One reason for that, Mr. Moran said, is the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012.

“Every school district is different,” Mr. Moran said, emphasizing why customizing plans is important for standards and practices as well as individual school safety. Schools need to have a direct and healthy relationship with police departments, he said. “As a former cop I know that’s a big missing piece out of many school safety programs.”

Mr. Moran spent 26 years with the Southampton Town police before taking his current position.

“When the police know where classrooms are, which doors give the best access — when they understand more about how schools operate — those create the best chances for a good outcome in an emergency,” he said.

His former experience informs his knowledge of how police will respond, and he looks to better that response.

“Police can respond sooner to incidents in specific classrooms if they know exactly where the classroom is. Classrooms need to be numbered — clearly — with numbers that face outward so that they can see them, and plans need to be shared so that first responders know the lay of the land.”

“It’s a danger to say, ‘This will never happen in our school,’ ” Mr. Moran said. “How you train is how you fight. It pays to be prepared.”

Mr. Moran created a mandatory handbook used in East End school districts that emphasizes the importance of age-appropriate drills and exercises including evacuation drills, live sheltering or lock-down drills, tabletop exercises, and exercises with a special emergency response team. The district-wide school safety plan he wrote can be found on the Hampton Bays School District website.

“Questions from the staff indicated that we needed an expert in the field to assist with our safety procedures and protocols,” said Dr. Favre. “Mr. Moran has a background in police work as well as a strong familiarity with how schools work, so I reached out to secure his assistance. While our procedures and protocols are in place, and drills go very well, there are always questions that arise that need additional expertise, such as: What should students or staff who are in between buildings do if there’s a lockout when they are changing classes, or if there’s a chance to run, how do we know to take that chance?”