District 21 staff to undergo active threat response training

Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 teachers and staff will undergo active threat response training in the coming weeks with the guidance of local police departments.

Officers from the Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect police departments will lead District 21 employees through scenarios that are designed to evoke different responses to a threat. Topics such as lockdowns, barricading rooms, evacuating and countering threats will be discussed and demonstrated.

"Our training will be sobering and contains sensitive subject matter, which may be emotionally impactful, but we have seen time and again that we must be prepared to respond to unlikely events, and we must be empowered to be an active part of ensuring the safety of our students, ourselves and others," said Superintendent Michael Connolly.

District 21 leads two committees designed to improve security measures throughout the district.