Lawmakers want charter schools to conduct lockdown drills

State law requires traditional public schools to have lockdown drills at least once a year to prepare for the potential of an intruder on campus. Yet, North Carolina charter schools, which are publicly funded and privately run, are only recommended to do the same.

The Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee wants to change that. The committee unanimously recommended Thursday that a loophole in the law be closed and charter schools be required to undergo lockdown drills just like traditional public schools. The recommendation goes to the full legislature for consideration in the session that starts next month.

Committee member Rep. Grier Martin, D-Wake, called the change common sense.

"[We need to] create some safeguards and apply some of the same requirements that our traditional public schools have, and we felt this was an area given that, in the mind of shooter, perhaps it would not make a distinction between a traditional public school and a charter school," Martin said.

Michelle Bohall, whose son attends Southern Wake Academy, a charter school in Holly Springs, said she is pleased with the move.

"This is a big step towards the appropriate direction for the safety of all schools in North Carolina. Now, we just need to get this approved and implemented," Bohall said.

Although charter schools have flexibility under state law, each school does have its own locally approved policy on lockdowns and safety procedures, according to Rhonda Dillingham, executive director of the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools.

State Department of Public Instruction spokesman Drew Elliot said, "several staffers in the Office of Charter Schools say they know that many charter schools conduct lockdown drills on a regular basis."

By law, charter schools are also encouraged, but not required to provide schematic drawings to law enforcement and create a School Risk Management Plan. Those are required for traditional public schools.