Floyd County Schools is working with Rome-Floyd County Emergency Management to hold a public safety exercise at Armuchee High School on Thursday, July 26.  The school system welcomes these drills as they help us to test our extensive school safety planning that schools must participate in each year.  Every school in the system must submit a detailed school safety plan before the school year begins.  The schools also hold at least four drills during the school year to make sure that staff members are prepared for emergency situations.  “Our schools plan regularly to make sure we are prepared for emergency situations,” said Kelly Henson, superintendent of Floyd County Schools.

The safety exercise will begin at Armuchee High School around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 26 and will conclude around 1 p.m.  The drill will also include some activity across the highway from the school during that morning.  

The school system is working with event planners and the media to make sure that the community is aware of the drill.  We want the drill to be as realistic as possible but we do not want to alarm parents or the community.  This is one reason the drill is not being conducted during a regular school day.   Signs will be posted on Highway 27 North and South in efforts to make drivers aware of the training exercise.  Floyd County Schools will also have information about the exercise on the school system’s website and will use the system’s automated telephone message calling system to alert parents in the Armuchee Community concerning the exercise before the drill.  

“We know that Emergency 911 will receive phone calls concerning the event on the 26^th and we’d really like to let the public know, as best as we can, that this is a training exercise only,” said Hancock. “We have been working with Georgia Emergency Management Agency on this scenario to make is as real-life as possible, so there will be lots of public safety officers involved.”