Modesto school to conduct simulated shooting

MODESTO -- Petersen Alternative Education Center on Blue Gum Avenue will hold a simulated school shooting from 1 to 4 p.m. today.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and the Stanislaus County Office of Education are staging the training exercise to help improve school emergency readiness.

Patrol cars, SWAT vehicles, ambulances and more will swarm the small campus, with a county office videographer and media capturing the action. Educators from around the state have asked for videos of this exercise, Stanislaus Superintendent Tom Changnon told county Board of Education members.

Changnon's office and sheriff's deputies started planning the multiagency exercise in August, but recent school shootings have raised widespread interest in the event.

Agencies participating in the exercise include the campus's Crisis Response Team and faculty, sheriff's deputies and bomb team, and the American Medical Response ambulance crews.

Role players will include Police Explorers and young actors from YES Company.

A federal Secure Our Schools grant received from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is paying for the drill.

"Utilizing resources like these are a key part of the ongoing school safety planning, training and evaluation support that is offered to schools through the Stanislaus County Office of Education," Changnon said.

Bee education reporter Nan Austin can be reached at naustin@modbee.com or (209) 578-2339. Follow her on Twitter, @NanAustin.