Palo Alto High School’s “Code Red” lockdown on Tuesday brings forth the question of whether or not Paly will be prepared in the event that a shooter comes onto campus.

“They should be preparing for the real situation,” Sgt. Sandra Brown of the Palo Alto Police Department said.

This new code red was initiated by the school district in response to the various school shootings over the last few years especially the Columbine. This action was District mandated and will soon be in place at Gunn High School.

“We just go and do what the schools ask for,” Brown said. “It’s up to the schools to ultimately decide what they want.”

Paly’s first ever code red drill occurred just before the end of second period. In order to shock students, the school administration decided not to publicize the drill. Assistant principal Chuck Merritt came on the intercom and warned students and staff that “this is a code red drill.” Teachers and students simultaneously took action by drawing the blinds and covering windows, locking doors, creating barriers in front of the doors and ultimately turning out the lights. Students were instructed to hide, out of view of the windows.

“The police have a key to open the door and we check the barricade and make sure the window is covered,” Brown said.

This being Paly’s first code red drill, the level of appropriateness as well as its effectiveness is debatable.

“It’s an important idea to prepare for something like this but I don’t think it’s that effective,” senior Steven Tran said. “People don’t take it seriously.”

Several students agreed that there were flaws in the drill, such as the fact that the doors opened outward, making barricading incredibly hard.

But there are some who believe it was a valuable learning experience.

“Its important that we know what to do in case of emergency so it is worthwhile,” English teacher Kay Van Der Burg said.

Teachers play a key role in the success of the drill. They are in charge of an entire class’s safety. They give the instructions and are supposed know what to do.

“It’s better to prepare than to panic,” English teacher Judy Choy said. “They [the administration] are imposing this because there is a greater need for it [emergency preparedness], as more tragic events have happened. There can be a lot of errors, as the back door kept opening and closing in our room.”

There were also a select few classes that decided to not participate in the drill.

“Some classes didn’t participate and that frustrated me,” Brown said.

Overall it seems that the drill was a good idea, but a few teachers have concerns about the safety precautions that need to be taken if an emergency were to arise.

“A few issues came up. The doors are opening out and so that makes it dangerous for a teacher to venture outside to lock the door,” James Hanmer, English teacher said.

A similar drill was done at Gilroy High School last March. According to the Gilroy Dispatch, it involved the cooperation of the Gilroy police, California Highway Patrol, and Santa Clara County Sheriffs. Unlike the drill at Paly, Gilroy’s involved several actors who pretended to be a gunman, hostages, and shot students.

According to Brown, Paly did not plan a drill as extensive as Gilroy’s because of the resources and time needed. Brown says the administration didn’t want to disrupt studies longer and in the end, it is the district that decides what the drill will include.

“Paly did a pretty good job,” Brown said. “The barricades were up, the window blinds were drawn and the kids made an attempt to hide.”

According to Brown, the police were happy with how the drill went and plan to schedule another drill in the future although the date hasn’t been decided upon.