For Immediate Release

Contact: Tanya Arja
Office of Communications
813-272-4060

Tampa, Fla. – (February 19, 2018) – Hillsborough County Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Eakins directed all principals to conduct a lockdown and evacuation drill this week on their campuses. 

We appreciate the media interest, but to protect our security measures for the safety of students and staff, the lockdown and evacuation drills will not be open to the media. There will be no video opportunities provided and we ask media not to attempt to cover the drills as it may reveal details about our procedures. 

The lockdown and evacuation drills will be conducted at each school sometime between Tuesday and Friday of this week. This will not be a surprise drill. Teachers are being asked to talk with students before the drill and make it clear this is only practice.

The drills will involve taking cover, locking doors and staying quiet. There will be no loud noises, no simulations or demonstrations of intruders and no violent images.

The teachers will then lead students through an evacuation drill, just like the normal fire drill they do every month. 

A lockdown is how students and staff would respond to an active, immediate threat to our campus. The goal is for students and staff to practice this procedure and walk through the steps. 

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