Viroqua Area Schools

On Tuesday, April 7th, Viroqua Area Schools will conduct two Lockdown Drills in cooperation with Viroqua PD and Vernon County Emergency Management teams.

There has been some confusion about the difference between SECURE and LOCKDOWN. Our buildings are secure every day because we have supervised and locked entrances to each school. Our side doors are always locked and require a badge swipe to open. When we go into a SECURE state, it is typically because outside agencies have asked us to stay in the building when there is a threat somewhere in the community NOT related to what is happening in our schools. Occasionally we may also go into SECURE if a student or staff member is having an emergency in one of our hallways and we are making space for medical response. When we are in SECURE, teaching and learning continue as normal because there is not an active threat to our schools. We were in SECURE last month when the Viroqua PD asked us to do that instead of our planned Evacuation Drill based on an external threat in the community. There typically is no need for active police presence during a SECURE. In fact, there was not police presence in our building March 12th as they were responding to the emergency elsewhere in Viroqua.

We go into LOCKDOWN when a threat is identified inside our building and we need to take active steps to protect students and staff. In those instances, classroom doors are locked, shades are drawn, and anyone inside moves to an area that is not visible from the doorways or windows. Staff members do not answer doors when someone knocks on them and they are released by a school official or emergency responder. LOCKDOWN will be the drill that we practice on Tuesday, April 7th. The Elementary School will practice at 9:00 am and the Middle/High School will practice at 12:30 pm. We anticipate this drill taking longer than a typical fire drill because we will check each room individually. Our estimate is 30 minutes.

There is always concern among our student body and parents when we hold these types of drills and many wonder if this is "really a drill" or if something is "actually happening." We are committed to sharing information about real situations that happen in our buildings whenever we can and still protect the privacy of students or staff involved. Families were also emailed a poster and a video explaining our processes. Thank you for being our partners to keep everyone at Viroqua Area Schools safe and informed.