Locked doors, covered windows, and no hallway access - that's what a code yellow precautionary lockdown looks like in the Washoe County School District, and it's an environment that students and teachers became familiar with this school year.
Code yellows more than doubled in Spring 2023 compared to the four prior semesters, according to data 2 News collected from WCSD's active emergency communications webpage.
Though the incidents that prompt precautionary lockdowns range from wildlife near school campuses to direct threats and weapons on school grounds, there's one overwhelming reason schools call code yellows.
"Most of the code yellows really are police activity outside of the school," school board president Beth Smith told 2 News on Wednesday.
And that begs the question, how does the school district bring code yellows back down?
Inside a School on Lockdown
Someone standing outside Reed High School the morning of Sept. 30 probably wouldn't have known that the school was on code yellow secured campus protocol - or that behind locked doors, police were taking two underaged suspects into custody for having firearms on campus.
From the outside, a lockdown looks like a normal school day - a "code green" campus. The district claims that for students inside the building, it's equally mundane.
"We want to stress to the families that, even though it sounds scary, a code yellow secured campus is really just that. It's just a little bit more enhanced security, but nothing that, you know, (is) life-threatening to the students in the building," said WCSD emergency manager Roy Anderson.
Anderson has 20 years of school emergency management experience, first in Clark County, and now with Washoe County. He and the WCSD Emergency Management Committee are responsible for reviewing the district's emergency plans. He says preserving a safe and comfortable classroom environment is key.
"When we're looking at these procedures, one of the things we want to do is understand that we try to have as little impact on the learning environment as possible," he said.
Administrators inside the building agree that implemented correctly, code yellow procedures are not a hinderance to normal school operations.
"Teaching and learning continues. It's just we don't – we limit passing," said Melissa Cook-Sanford, assistant principal at Dilworth Middle School.
Anderson and Cook-Sanford agree that the biggest disruption in a code yellow happens when students start taking out their cell phones.
"We get rumors spread internally by the kids all the time," Anderson said. "Like, ‘Oh we’re in lockdown because of this, this and this.’ And unfortunately, that spreads way faster than we can get the truth out sometimes.”
In turn, parents get worried. Cook-Sanford says when that happens, it complicates the situation.
"The office phone starts ringing, and parents sometimes come, and if it’s not a safe scene, we don’t want parents here because now we’re - not only are we trying to keep our own staff and students safe, but now we have additional people on campus," she said.
She later added, "My own kid has texted me during a code yellow, and I told her exactly that. Follow the instruction of your teacher. Stay calm. You're fine."
Cook-Sanford's own school has had just one code yellow this school year: a 44 minute precautionary lockdown on Dec. 15, after what the district described later as a "student-staff altercation."
One teacher was hospitalized, and the school closed its doors the following day after 80 percent of the teachers called out.
Cook-Sanford say she's grateful for code yellow protocol, especially in situations that involve medical events.
“We don’t need 650 lookie-loos, and it’s not everybody’s business. I prefer to keep those moments private for those individuals," she said. "Oftentimes that’s what a code yellow is about.”
Anderson said sometimes parents forget the difference between a code red and a code yellow.
“The code red lockdown is the response to a potential life safety issue. ... Our code yellows are more of a secured campus standpoint," he said.
"Just because it's a code yellow, doesn't mean it's life-threatening. It just means we want to prevent it from getting to that point."
More Yellow Schools
Plot WCSD's code yellows back to November 2018, and the graph takes on a bowl shape. Campus lockdowns plunged during the pandemic, when students stayed home.
Visually, it makes this semester's code yellow increase look more dramatic. Though, last school year's data and limited pre-pandemic data still point to a sharp increase. Why?
Anderson might be personally involved in code yellow uptick. His recording and reporting methodology hasn't changed in the five years he's been with WCSD, but one thing has: the training.
Consistently across school years, about 2/3 of code yellow lockdowns are enacted due to police activity on campus or nearby.
"The increase could be attributed to a little bit more knowledge from our local responders," he said. "Could even be attributed to the training that we’re doing with the administration to let them know that, hey, these are procedures you can do to enhance the security of the school."
If the increase truly can be attributed to training, it begs the question, is the school district being overly cautious? The teacher's union says no.
“At least from discussions I’m having, when they’re calling code yellows, there’s a legitimate reason to call a code yellow," said Calen Evans, president of the Washoe Education Association. "I would say that a lot of times teachers might even feel that certain code yellows should have been called."
Though, both Evans and Cook-Sanford say they can't ignore another factor in the code yellow spike.
"I can't say that behavior hasn't been increased throughout the district, but that's a nationwide issue because our kids weren't in regular school," Cook-Sanford Said.
Residual impacts - that's how Evans described the developmental gap students are facing following pandemic lockdowns.
"I know my own three kids have," Cook-Sanford said. "My youngest is not in the same spot that my older two were at that same age because he's little and he was locked up for two years."
Behavioral issues are not a new topic within the district. In a March school board meeting, the district reported an 8 percent increase in violent behavior events compared to 2018-19.
Suspensions overall have decreased, but out-of-school suspensions have quickly replaced in-school suspensions, up by 33 percent.
The president of the school board says trends like this, along with the code yellow increase, represent a larger phenomena.
"It follows a trajectory that we're seeing as a community and as a country, and really international as well too," Beth Smith said. "Now, I definitely think that we have an opportunity to rise to the occasion and to bring down the types of emergencies that are happening in the schools."
Bringing Down Lockdowns
By the district's records, the longest school lockdown this semester was two hours and 48 minutes. Sparks Middle School sat in code yellow all morning, while school police investigated a fight.
The district can't control when outside police activity forces a lockdown, but it can try to bring down internal code yellows, if you ask Smith.
While looking at the increase, “The very first thing I think of is, are we doing everything we possibly can to protect our kids against the dangers that we cannot control?” Smith said.
She believes that the school board's budget reflects that priority.
"The board voted to expand the school police by 20 percent. And those officers when they're hired will have a special focus in our middle schools," she said.
Along with uniformed officers, this year the school board approved campus supervisor positions for all district middle schools. Smith says the extra eyes and hands will better support staff.
And the third change schools will see this upcoming year: new security systems. Smith held out a blue lanyard with a button attached to it, and clicked it three times. It vibrated in her hands.
“This little card will allow a staff member to press the buttons at different intervals to convey certain emergency situations where they might just need to get in touch with the office at the school," she said.
But the district cannot tackle school safety alone, according to Evans. It's a national concern.
"It can't just be school sites deal with it or just the school district. The community, parents need to be involved," he said. “If you have kids in the school district, you have a vested interest in getting this addressed.”
The state legislature took a step in the right direction this session, he added, with the passage of AB285 and AB330. The two work hand-in-hand, eliminating restorative justice practices but creating resources for students who face disciplinary action for their behavior.
"I think the legislation though by itself is just a piece of paper," Evans said. He's looking forward to following the bill implementation.
Smith said her hope is that safety and mental health resources make a difference. Though, she can't ignore the code yellow lockdowns out of her control.
“It’s just unfortunate that that’s become a part of our community and the world that we live in right now because doing harm to schools or near schools is not something that’s infrequent anymore," she said.
She later added, "“No part of this is fun, but the upside is we get to focus on the things that really matter and show our staff and our families and our kids that their safety really matters to us."
Cook-Sanford is looking for a more long-term ripple effect.
She said, “The people that make the biggest impact are the teachers. The more teaching and learning that we can do, and the kids feel safe, and parents are happy, then I think that we will see a decrease.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7c7rEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmnKeUmnq6sculprBlnKSwrLDOsKWsZaOltqyxjJ2sq6GenHq0vNGipaBlo5q6pr%2FTnqlmmaRixKK%2Fx6icZpufqru1xYysmqGnn6HAcK3RraCcpJWUhXKwlJppnpldZn52roxqaJ6dXZawdYCMamqcnWeZrnivw2%2BaZ6Ckork%3D