Seminole County Public Schools changing drill policy

SANFORD, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - One Central Florida school district is making major changes to emergency drills, after a commotion on campus. 

The panic and chaos that happened at Lake Brantley High School back in December is what lead to new procedures the district is now putting in place.

“There is a shooting at Lake Brantley School,” a student said on a 911 call from December.“Are you calling about the drill?” asked the 911 dispatcher.“Everyone just started running…I don't know if it's a shooter or not but everyone just started running.”

Those were the terrifying moments at Lake Brantley High School where, in December, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office conducted a lockdown drill without warning. Students hid in classrooms, teachers locked the doors, and kids and parents called 911.

Inside the school were Ashley Malebranche’s cousins.

“Basically it was two terrified teenage boys who had no idea what was going on. They said somebody got trampled on at school. It was a whole thing and it just kind of scared us,” said Malebranche.

The panic led to backlash and now new procedures. Seminole County will no longer do unannounced Code Red drills. Now teachers, students, parents, faculty and visitors will all be notified when a lockdown drill is set to happen.

“It’s scary when you're in it, and it's scarier when you have a kid in it and you can't do anything about it. If there's more control leading up to it, yes I'm all for notification.”

So moments like what can be heard on these December 911 calls never happen again.

“They're not in real Code Red. It's just a drill,” a 911 dispatched told a parent. “Ok. Oh my God. I'm freaking out. Thank you so much.”

The district says it will use several layers of communication to notify people when the lockdowns are happening and to use in case of a real world incident or emergency.