Pleasantville Schools Conduct 'Lockdown' Drills

In an effort to keep students and staff in the know in case of an emergency, the Pleasantville Union Free School District's three campuses exercised emergency lockdown drills today.

According to a memo from Superintendent Mary Fox-Alter, "Pleasantville Police Chief [Richard] Love and members of the Pleasantville police department, along with members of our administration participated in today’s exercises. Debriefing sessions took place afterwards."


Each principal also elaborated on the day's proceedings in letters to parents.

Peggy Galotti of Bedford Road School explained the school participates in at least 12 fire drills every year to get students in the habit of exiting the building efficiently.

Today, "I announced via the PA system that we were having a practice lockdown drill. At this juncture, all doors were locked, hallways were cleared by school personnel, and students and teachers sat quietly in their classrooms," Galotti wrote.

Once the doors were locked, Pleasantville High School Principal Daniel McCann explained members of the Police Department and administrators "walked the hallways to review our safety procedures in order to ensure we are prepared in the event of a real situation requiring us to lockdown the building.

At the Middle School, Principal Vivian Ossowski noted, "Unfortunately, we live in a world that makes such drills necessary," but said, "I am proud to report that our teachers all followed the protocols which have been recommended to us and our students’ behavior was impeccable."

Following the drill, Galotti said, "...I reassured everyone that it had been a practice drill and they were all safe. I also told them how proud I was of everyone’s behavior throughout the procedure."

The administrators said students may go home today wanting to discuss the drills with their parents.

"Please be assured your child’s health and safety are our number one priority," they wrote.