Staff will participate in active shooter drill

The Fayetteville-Manlius School District’s annual “go home early” dismissal drill will be held Thursday, March 29.

Students will be dismissed from school and required to leave the buildings at the following times:

•F-M High School: 10:01 a.m.

•Middle schools: 10:35 a.m.

•Elementary schools: 11:30 a.m.

School buses will follow their regular afternoon drop-off routes.

Typically, the go home early drill is scheduled on a full day of classes where this year the district will use a half-day schedule. The district will be dismissing students so all staff can participate in a 2.5 hour afternoon training session that focuses on what they should do in the event of an active shooter in a district building.

“We recognize this may be short notice for some families and apologize for any inconvenience it may pose, but given the increased safety and security concerns nationwide and locally, we felt it was important to provide further staff training sooner rather than later,” Superintendent Craig J. Tice said.

Because the training involves all staff, individual district buildings will be secured and closed for the afternoon.

A go home early dismissal may be used in a situation where it is necessary to transport students home prior to regular dismissal times. The district may send students home early in the event of emergencies, such as a snow/ice storm, that prohibits normal dismissal.

“The go home early drill is intended to give families an opportunity to prepare for an unexpected dismissal, which could happen at any time during the school year. We ask each family’s cooperation in reviewing its individual plan so children have an understanding of where they need to go and what they need to do in the event of an early dismissal from school,” Tice said.