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Montgomery County Schools at Code Blue
Aired October 22, 2002 - 08:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, we talked about the schools. Dr. Linda Handy is from a local school in Montgomery County. She's with us by telephone.
Doctor, are you with us? Good morning to you.
DR. LINDA HANDY, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND: Yes, I am. Good morning, bill.
HEMMER: Tell us about your students. What type of school is it? And what is your situation on the inside in terms of security?
HANDY: I'll be happy to do that. We are under code blue at this time. That's part of our crisis intervention plan. We are a school for bright students with dyslexia, fifth grade through 12th grade, and we have about 96 students, 20 of our students are here today. One bus from the District of Columbia dropped off students and is waiting to see what the decision is going to be in terms of Montgomery County schools.
HEMMER: Doctor, if you could offer a definition for us between a lockdown and code blue. We just want to be specific on this as best we can. It's my understanding a lockdown means nobody goes outside, but a code blue steps it up one step further, meaning students stay inside the classroom itself. Is that the way it's defined?
HANDY: That's correct. That's exactly right. Code blue means that students stay in their classrooms with the doors locked, and also they don't have any outdoor activities, as well.
HEMMER: Essentially, no one's walking the hallways in your school, is that right, doctor?
HANDY: This morning we may have one or two people walking the hallways, just trying to make certain we have a check on who's here.
HEMMER: What has that done to the environment of learning at your school?
HANDY: Well, actually, the learning has continued to be quite strong. The students are probably getting a little antsy, because usually our seniors and juniors can go out for lunch, but they haven't been able to do that. We've been doing things like having indoor picnics and the like, just so that we can have a little tension released.
HEMMER: How are you guys doing as administrators and as teachers?
HANDY: Well, we are all, you know, quite strong individuals, but, of course, this is very -- this is unsettling for all of us, to say the least.
HEMMER: And the parents? What's their reaction? What do you hear from them?
HANDY: I think that our parents feel as concerned as the population at large. They are also comfortable with the fact that we have been under code blue since the beginning of these tragic events.
HEMMER: Good luck to you.
HANDY: Thank you very much, Bill.
HANDY: All right. Dr. Linda Handy, Chelsea School, a local here in Montgomery County. She indicates, again, they are at a code blue yet again today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 22, 2002 - 08:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Paula, we talked about the schools. Dr. Linda Handy is from a local school in Montgomery County. She's with us by telephone.
Doctor, are you with us? Good morning to you.
DR. LINDA HANDY, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND: Yes, I am. Good morning, bill.
HEMMER: Tell us about your students. What type of school is it? And what is your situation on the inside in terms of security?
HANDY: I'll be happy to do that. We are under code blue at this time. That's part of our crisis intervention plan. We are a school for bright students with dyslexia, fifth grade through 12th grade, and we have about 96 students, 20 of our students are here today. One bus from the District of Columbia dropped off students and is waiting to see what the decision is going to be in terms of Montgomery County schools.
HEMMER: Doctor, if you could offer a definition for us between a lockdown and code blue. We just want to be specific on this as best we can. It's my understanding a lockdown means nobody goes outside, but a code blue steps it up one step further, meaning students stay inside the classroom itself. Is that the way it's defined?
HANDY: That's correct. That's exactly right. Code blue means that students stay in their classrooms with the doors locked, and also they don't have any outdoor activities, as well.
HEMMER: Essentially, no one's walking the hallways in your school, is that right, doctor?
HANDY: This morning we may have one or two people walking the hallways, just trying to make certain we have a check on who's here.
HEMMER: What has that done to the environment of learning at your school?
HANDY: Well, actually, the learning has continued to be quite strong. The students are probably getting a little antsy, because usually our seniors and juniors can go out for lunch, but they haven't been able to do that. We've been doing things like having indoor picnics and the like, just so that we can have a little tension released.
HEMMER: How are you guys doing as administrators and as teachers?
HANDY: Well, we are all, you know, quite strong individuals, but, of course, this is very -- this is unsettling for all of us, to say the least.
HEMMER: And the parents? What's their reaction? What do you hear from them?
HANDY: I think that our parents feel as concerned as the population at large. They are also comfortable with the fact that we have been under code blue since the beginning of these tragic events.
HEMMER: Good luck to you.
HANDY: Thank you very much, Bill.
HANDY: All right. Dr. Linda Handy, Chelsea School, a local here in Montgomery County. She indicates, again, they are at a code blue yet again today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
