CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Schools in the Carolinas are legally required to do at least one lockdown drill a year but there's no requirement when it comes to tracking the number of actual lockdowns.
Experts say lockdowns can have a traumatic effect on students. WCNC Charlotte's Defenders wanted to see how often they're happening at schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system. That's when they learned that information isn't tracked.
Whether it's a drill or the real thing, students and staff jump into action. The reasons for past lockdowns at CMS campuses range from a weapon at Myers Park High School to a crime in progress outside an elementary school in northeast Charlotte. Just last month there were reports of a possible gun at Independence High School.
It might seem like it's happening on an almost weekly basis, but right now there's no way for the public to know. CMS doesn't track the number of school lockdowns in the district.
"I am surprised to hear that because school districts, now, we collect data on it seems like pretty everything," said Justin Parmenter, a teacher at Waddell Language Academy.
He estimates his school goes through lockdowns a couple times a year.
"You have 25 or 30 students who are huddled on the floor together and they have no idea what's going on either, so it can be a really frightening situation to be in," Parmenter said.
In fact, some lockdowns can cause anxiety, stress, even traumatic symptoms, according to the National Association of School Psychologists.
"If it's something that we know has a potentially traumatic impact on our children, then since their safety and well-being is our number one priority, that we would want to collect as much information as possible," he said.
WCNC Charlotte checked with several other districts in the area. Union and Gaston counties both said they don't track lockdowns. According to Fort Mill Schools, there were two lockdowns in the past three school years. Lincoln County and Rock Hill did not respond to requests for that information.
"We have to follow the protocol exactly," said Parmenter. "We're audited on how we do on those things, but then to not actually collect any information or data at all on actual lockdowns does seem a little strange."
Students and staff know the drill: close the door and turn off the lights, but now, some are wondering if an information gap is leaving them in the dark.
State education officials in South Carolina say school threats ate tracked as a whole, but not specifically lockdowns. WCNC Charlotte is still waiting to hear from North Carolina.
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