Kansas Reducing Number Of Safety Drills In Schools

A new Kansas law will reduce the number of required safety drills in public and private schools only a year after lawmakers mandated crisis drills to prepare for active shooters and other threats.

It mandates nine safety drills each school year. Four drills for fires, two for tornadoes and three for crisis lockdowns.

Schools had been required to have 16 drills a year, including nine crisis drills. The change takes effect in July.

Some educators and lawmakers said the frequency of emergency exercises added to students’ anxiety and took away from class time.