North Main evacuates 700 students, faculty and staff off-site in two minutes

Principal says students once again rose to the occasion MONROE — Officials are pleased with the results of last Thursday’s off site evacuation drill of students, faculty and support staff at North Main Elementary, with everyone getting out of the building and walking to the Monroe Temple in only a two minute time frame. Principal Matthew Kravatz said the drill simulated “something happening on the top floor,” which required everyone to get off school property, with the exception of three classrooms of students who could not leave as part of that scenario. First responders from the Village of Monroe Police Department, State Police, Monroe Fire Department and Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps participated in the drill. Teachers and students were not told ahead of time what the scenario was, what part of the building was affected or which classes would not leave. The time it took to leave school grounds was only 30 seconds more than it would take for students to evacuate during a fire drill, when alarms sound. Quiet needed But part of the drill’s purpose was assessing the school’s readiness in alerting teachers of the need for immediate off-site evacuation without the use of public address systems. Pre-selected personnel were given the task of quietly going from room to room to alert teachers that something was amiss and everyone must leave now. Students were instructed to remain silent while leaving the building and while walking down North Main Street to the Monroe Temple, where they queued up in the parking lot to wait for buses. “I was on the top floor,” said Kravatz. “On a normal day, you hear conversations, laughing, sneakers squeaking on the floor. But during the drill, we heard nothing. Nothing. The kids were unbelievable. The police kept remarking that they had never seen such well-behaved kids following directions.” 'Practice makes perfect’ Students were able to wear their coats since the day was blustery and they would be outside. In a real situation, everything would be left behind. “You can never be prepared enough,” Kravatz added. “And you hope you never have any situation happening requiring an off-site evacuation.” Part of the drill assessed the readiness of the transportation department to deploy school buses to pick up students. In a real evacuation, students would then be bused from the temple to Pine Tree Elementary. Instead, buses returned the students to North Main via a route through the village. “It’s the old adage, 'practice makes perfect,’” Kravatz said. “The kids at North Main, I always feel like they rise to the occasion.” I was on the top floor. On a normal day, you hear conversations, laughing, sneakers squeaking on the floor. But during the drill, we heard nothing. Nothing. The kids were unbelievable. The police kept remarking that they had never seen such well-behaved kids following directions.” North Main Principal Matthew Kravatz