Blackstone‑Millville to roll out ALICE active‑shooter training across district, superintendent says

Superintendent Jason DeFalco said the Blackstone‑Millville School District will start a phased rollout of ALICE active‑shooter training for staff and students, beginning with a tabletop exercise at the high school in January and continuing to the middle school the following month. DeFalco, who opened a community webinar on the subject, said parents will be notified well in advance of any drills and that the district will proceed slowly and with debriefs after exercises.

"We don't panic, we prepare," DeFalco said, framing the training as part of the district's broader safety work. He told viewers the district has previously run staff trainings and will now expand exercises that include students, counselors and administrators.

Officer David Loudon, the district's school resource officer, explained the ALICE approach and why the district favors it over a purely passive lockdown. "ALICE is an acronym which stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate," Loudon said. He described ALICE as non‑sequential and designed to give staff and students options to make the best decisions in real time.

Loudon cited national incident data to underscore the need for multiple response options and rapid action. He noted that mass‑casualty events have varied in duration and that those variations change what response is effective; he contrasted longer incidents such as Columbine with much shorter events in more recent cases and said this trend supports training that emphasizes evacuate and other proactive measures.

On tactics, Loudon said the district's protocols emphasize secure doors and barricading with available furniture and objects, and that in middle and high schools students are expected to be partners in securing rooms when appropriate. He described "counter" as actions that interrupt the shooter's ability to acquire a target — throwing objects or otherwise disrupting the attack — and stressed that such actions should always be age‑appropriate and voluntary.

The district will use reunification points and an alphabetical system by last name, grade and homeroom to reunify students with parents after an evacuation, DeFalco said. He added that the district has invested in vestibules and cameras at school entrances and that multi‑jurisdictional police response from neighboring towns will be part of any large incident response.

Asked how tabletop exercises will be adapted for the youngest students, DeFalco and Loudon said they will meet with elementary principals to shape age‑appropriate language and activities, and that some districts make tabletop drills less like a game to avoid confusion. On IDs, DeFalco said student photo IDs are not required throughout the day and are not issued specifically so police can identify students during an incident, though IDs can be helpful.

Loudon gave his contact email for follow‑up questions and encouraged parents to reach out. "We will give people lots of notice," DeFalco said of upcoming drills, and the district closed the meeting by inviting further questions by email and promising after‑action debriefs following exercises.

The district did not announce any formal policy changes or votes at the webinar; it provided a schedule and process for training implementation and said it will coordinate with parents and regional law enforcement on community drills.