As seen in the hit comedy “The Office,” chaos can ensue from the faulty attempts at safety within a true fire. That is exactly the opposite of what the Papillion La-Vista school district wants during an emergency on a bus. It is for the same reason we do fire, tornado and lockdown drills: student safety.

Due to a new state law, Nebraska has required that school districts go over bus evacuations twice a year. This may be something students may have not done since elementary school. 

Schools are meant to protect, and with so many students to keep safe, there needs to be more ways to prioritize students and their safety.

“It’s across the district and state,” said PLHS’s assistant principal Dr. Govier. “Kids’ safety in an unfortunate event is top priority.”

The student body was confused when told that this week there would be a bus evacuation drill during the second hour.  Junior Lily Almgren was among them. 

“I wasn’t told until about 5 minutes before we left to do it,” Almgren said. “I was really confused why we had to.”

Although the drill was not a new experience, it is always good to have a refresher in the event of a serious incident. 

“It was super simple,” Almgren said. “It’s nice to know if we were ever in danger.”

While this drill was an abrupt way to start the day, it was not a rare occurrence, as these safety drills have been practiced at PLHS every year.

“I remember a couple weeks ago there was a random fire drill,” Almgren said. “Although it really wasn’t a drill, I’m glad we knew what to do when it happened.”

Regardless of if these drills are new or old, students at PLHS are hopeful for a safer future. Practice makes perfect, and maybe this perfection will avoid the pandemonium from a surprise fire drill.