On Tues. Feb. 14, the Pascack Hills administration conducted its first in-school evacuation drill of the school year. The drill was designed to keep students in a secure, indoor location during an evacuation, instead of on the field where another threat may be present. This new type of drill was a result of new bomb threat protocols that have been implemented both in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, and around the world.

Due to the number of robo-call bomb threats (threats from unknown sources) in the area within the past year, several local police departments decided that schools could safely secure a few locations within the building, instead of moving the entire school population to an outdoor field.

Assistant Principal Tim Wieland said, “In the event of a bomb threat we don’t know exactly if we’re going to evacuate to the field or if we’re going to have our security team sweep the auditorium and the gym and then evacuate to there.”

Before the drill on Tuesday, the Pascack Hills security team swept the auditorium and the gym, searching for any potential hazardous materials such as bombs. Then, the student body was evacuated to those areas and then the rest of the building was secured.

According to Wieland, “The auditorium is one of the safest places. There’s no windows, it can be easily locked, and you’re right by the security desk.”

The gym and auditorium would not have been used if there was a bomb or suspicious substance found in those areas of the building.