QCSD hosts tabletop exercise

Nearly 50 peo­ple attend­ed a table­top exer­cise on August 22nd at Quakertown Community High School, one of sev­er­al steps the dis­trict has tak­en to increase safe­ty in its facil­i­ties.

Kasey Kollar, Chief of Operations at the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, facil­i­tat­ed the event, which sim­u­lates an emer­gency sit­u­a­tion in a low-stress envi­ron­ment. Participants were tak­en through a sce­nario and the cours­es of action a school will need to take before, dur­ing, and after an emer­gency, and there was a detailed dis­cus­sion of roles, respon­si­bil­i­ties, and antic­i­pat­ed cours­es of action.

Attendees includ­ed Superintendent Dr. Bill Harner, Assistant Superintendent Nancianne Edwards, who is the district’s Safety Coordinator, the superintendent’s cab­i­net, all school prin­ci­pals, QCSD admin­is­tra­tors, teach­ers, police chiefs Scott McElree of Quakertown and Richard Ficco Sr. of Richland, QCSD’s School Resource Officers Bob Lee and Brian Hendrzak, rep­re­sen­ta­tives of Pennsylvania State Police and oth­er law enforce­ment offi­cials and first respon­ders, and School Board mem­ber Glenn Iosue.

Dr. Harner and Chief McElree each cit­ed the rela­tion­ship built between the dis­trict and law enforce­ment as a pos­i­tive in help­ing to keep schools safe. “We have done sev­er­al of these and will con­tin­ue to do more,” Dr. Harner said.

Chief McElree added “We can nev­er pre­pare enough. I applaud you guys for set­ting this up. We’ve come a long way together.”