Cibola schools pass code red drills

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

CIBOLA COUNTY — Two Cibola County schools passed tri-agency muster in emergency drills last week.

Cibola County Sheriff Johnny Valdez said the sheriff’s department, the New Mexico State Police and the Grants Police Department held surprise drills in the Grants/Cibola County School District to test preparedness for “active shooter” emergencies.

Two schools found themselves on what law enforcement agencies call “code red” alerts Thursday morning.

Capt. Dominic Pargas of the NMSP explained that he, Valdez, and a representative of the Grants Police Department visited one school in Grants and one school in another part of the county and told principals to announce a coded alert to school staff. Staff responded by having children go into lockdown mode, in accordance with previous training.

After the announcement, the law enforcement representatives walked through the school. Pargas said they looked with the eyes of a would-be criminal. Anyone, child or adult, seen in hallways or other off limits areas during the inspection was told he or she was a casualty and counted as points against the school.

Valdez said that after the drills, law enforcement reviewed performance with the principals and explained areas that needed improvement or gave the staff and students a perfect score.

“They did fantastic. I am so proud of that school,” Valdez said about one school. The other school received a few pointers for improvement, he added, but they did OK.

Pargas and Valdez said that the agencies work with principals to train all schools in procedures to use if a criminal is on school grounds. All inspection drills are 100 percent surprises, Pargas said. Only the principal will know that the situation is a drill.

A school can also go into lockdown mode if a criminal is in the area, as when a prisoner in transport escaped near the Sky City Casino earlier this year.