KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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Olathe Public Schools rolled out a new safety system this year. The decision feels even more timely after last week’s school shooting in Minneapolis that left educators and parents nationwide once again reflecting on security inside schools.
“We felt like now is a good time to change to the Standard Response Protocol, which basically gives us an all-hazards approach to not just how to respond in an active shooter, but how to respond to numerous situations,” said Brent Kiger, Olathe Public Schools' executive director of safety services.
The district is transitioning from ALICE to Standard Response Protocol (SRP). Kiger said the new system covers a wider range of emergencies and uses clear, consistent language, such as “lockdown” or “secure,” that students and staff can easily follow.
SRP is integrated into the district’s crisis alert system and features color-coded strobes inside classrooms and hallways that match emergency commands. Staff badges can also trigger alerts, allowing for faster communication during emergencies.
“We're able to quickly mass notify everybody in our building of what's going on," Kiger said. "And then, when they see the color of the strobe, or they hear the announcement or see it on their computer screen, they know exactly what to do. So it removes the ambiguity and removes a lot of the decision-making that we required before."
Students and staff across the district will do training drills under the new protocol this year. Kiger said the goal is to make the system second nature, so students and teachers can feel more confident if they ever face an emergency inside their school.
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