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After Realistic Active Shooter Drill, Raisin City School Board Considers Fallout

Andrew Nixon
/
Capital Public Radio

The Raisin City School Board is meeting today to discuss the consequences of a surprise active shooter drill that terrified students and involved a staff member going around campus with a mask and fake gun. The board is considering whether to discipline or remove the school’s superintendent. 

Raisin City Elementary School teachers want the board to remove Superintendent Juan Sandoval, according to the teachers association. Teachers say they were caught off guard June 3 when Sandoval had a janitor pretend to be an active shooter. Teacher Danny Nason says he was frightened and confused.

 

“You start thinking, 'Oh it’s a drill.' Well, maybe it's not a drill,” says Nason. “I’m trying to think, who in their right mind would put someone out there with a mask and a gun? Why would they do that?”

Nason was so nervous he grabbed a fire extinguisher, and ended up almost hitting a staff member who entered his room.

“Immediately following, we had an assembly, and once I got to the assembly, all the people that were involved in orchestrating this drill were laughing,” says Nason. “They, they thought what they had done was hilarious, and I was just extremely upset about the whole thing.”

Sandoval didn’t respond to a request for comment but in an interview with CBS 47, he said he hadn’t heard anyone complain about the drill. 

“No, I don’t think it was wrong, it was a drill, not training,” Sandoval said. “Because usually these drills become routine to students and we wanted to make sure this was realistic.”

The Raisin City School Board is taking public comments today about the incident before going into closed session to discuss whether to punish the superintendent.

 

Update: The Raisin City School Board voted unanimously Tuesday evening to "pursue appropriate disciplinary action” against Superintendent Juan Sandoval. The Board did not say what the disciplinary action might amount to, but noted it will announce it at another special meeting where Sandoval will have time to respond. 

Laura Tsutsui was a reporter and producer for Valley Public Radio. She joined the station in 2017 as a news intern, and later worked as a production assistant and weekend host. Laura covered local issues ranging from politics to housing, and produced the weekly news program Valley Edition. She left the station in November 2020.
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