Local tornado lockdowns? This week every campus of AnnaISD went through their bad weather protocols. Today I am going to educate and inform you guys as to the procedures, what’s behind it, what goes into it, and what it was like from the perspective of teachers, students, and principals.

A Storm Brewing

It was a regular morning at Anna High School, I personally was in AP English Literature getting ready to write an essay. Across the schools there were early morning meetings, interviews, and classes — a regular morning for AnnaISD. Until suddenly,

“Mrs. Crank and I were interviewing a prospective teacher.  I started getting text messages midway through the interview.” – Principal Miller of Anna High School

What were those text messages about? Those text messages were from ‘district personnel’ monitoring the weather, and what they were seeing was not good.

But what is the protocol for this, when do we have to go into lockdown? Who or what determines this? Considering this is fresh on all of our minds I bet a lot of people are wondering this, whether you’re a student, teacher, or parent it is reasonable to wonder. Well luckily for those who are curious Mr.Miller and Mrs.Crank both agreed to interviews about the subject, here’s what they said

Questions & Answers

What is the procedure or rules behind the tornado protocol?

“We have several District personnel monitoring different weather apps and news apps.  The weather app we use here in the District is WeatherSentry.  Once there is a Tornado Warning issued for the county through any of the apps, and if it is predicted to come directly at us, then we will call for Shelter for Tornado.  We do not want to take any risks by waiting any longer than we have to.  Moving 1700 students and staff to shelter does take time and we want to make sure that we have plenty of time to get everyone to safety.” – Principal Miller of Anna High School

What was that morning like, Mrs.Crank told me you guys were in a meeting — how did that go? 

“Mrs. Crank and I were interviewing a prospective teacher.  I started getting text messages midway through the interview.  Obviously, I apologized to the candidate and explained that we may have to go in shelter, which is the reason I needed to have my phone handy.  Just as we were finishing up the interview is when I received the call from Central Office.  We immediately ended the interview, told the candidate who he could go with to the shelter, and I made the announcement to shelter for tornado.  Then we began ushering students and staff towards the two shelter areas.” – Principal Miller of Anna High School

Last Comments from Mr.Miller

“Students and staff did an excellent job moving to the shelters and remaining calm in the process!  We take everyone’s safety seriously and remaining calm helps in that process.  The addition of the new gym, which doubles as our second shelter, was a tremendous blessing.  I’m not sure we would have been able to fit everyone in the Assembly Hall had we not had the second shelter in the gym.  Running safety drills prepares students and staff the knowledge of what to do and expect during a real situation.  I believe this is why students and staff were calm during the whole process.  When we take our drills serious, it helps keep everyone safe during an actual event.” – Principal Miller of Anna High School

We at The Anna Progress appreciate both Principal Miller and Assistant Principal Crank for their statements which show transparency, openness, and integrity. We agree with Principal Miller about the excellent job students and staff did, and the importance of taking drills seriously. Thankfully everything was fine that day, and the preparedness of the district should definitely help any concerned community members feel more comfortable.

Written by Brayden R. Heath, Co-Founder, The Anna Progress