Burbank, Glendale schools take stock of security measures after Connecticut shooting

Following the shooting deaths of 20 students Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Glendale and Burbank school officials reevaluated their lockdown procedures and welcomed extra police patrols as a precaution.

In Glendale, Supt. Dick Sheehan said district administrators visited school sites and Glendale police would bolster patrols. A letter would also be going out informing parents of the district’s actions, he said.

“Their child’s safety is our priority,” Sheehan said.

In Burbank, police units were patrolling schools and administrators were referring to their lockdown system, which calls for students to hide under desks as teachers lock doors and turn off lights upon hearing a coded phrase on the public announcement system.

“We have a pretty sophisticated lockdown procedure that each school would institute if anything like this would happen,” said Burbank Unified spokeswoman Kimberley Clark.

In addition to the children, six adults were also dead at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting scene, as was the gunman. Another person was found dead at what was described as “a secondary crime scene” in Connecticut, bringing the death total to 28, the L.A. Times reported.

Twice each year, middle and high school students in Burbank review the lockdown procedures in case of an intruder or natural disaster, said Emilio Urioste, director of secondary education.

“There’s been a concerted effort the last two three years to make sure there’s training provided across the board. Prior to that, it was left up to individual school sites,” he said.

Looking back over the past few years, Urioste said he could not recall the school exercising an actual lockdown.

“I can’t think of a lockdown other than a drill,” he said.

FULL L.A. TIMES COVERAGE

Connecticut shooting: 20 schoolchildren among the 28 dead

Connecticut school shooting: Bullets, then tears in morning of terror

Tearful Obama seeks ‘meaningful action’

-- Kelly Corrigan, Times Community News

Follow Kelly Corrigan on Twitter: @kellymcorrigan