Highland Schools Improves Student, Staff Safety with “Lockdown Buckets”

Highland County school officials are taking another step to keep students and teachers safe in the event of a lockdown due to a shooting in or near the schools.

It’s a bucket.

The so-called Lockdown Buckets, also known as Go Buckets, were delivered Sept.18^th to the county schools for use in all classrooms, gyms, cafeterias and libraries at the schools.

A small group of Highland deputies, state police officers and county school officials hauled in the 32 white and red Ace Hardware buckets, filling up several high school library tables.

Officials say the buckets are an emergency preparedness tool to use in the event an active shooter forces students and teachers to shelter in place and lockdown, sometimes for hours.

According to an internet search, several Virginia school districts have adopted the Lockdown Bucket program, including Henrico County, Grayson County and Danville Public Schools.  The first on-line mention of the program was in 2016, when a high school senior working with school officials on a public safety plan in Franklin County, Ohio, came up with the idea.

Inside the buckets are emergency supplies that could be needed during a lockdown, including water, a first aid kit, a tourniquet, gauze, tape, a flashlight, a whistle, rubber tubing, toilet paper, granola bars in case of low blood sugar incidents for diabetics and a small bag of cat litter.

And, yes, you heard that right—cat litter.

The lockdown buckets, each equipped with a removeable lid, can be used as a make-shift toilet when nature calls, according to Michael O’Brien, the director of the Sheriff’s Office 911 Communication Center.

O’Brien emptied out a fully stocked bucket and picked up the rubber tubing, which he said is cut to fit on the rim of the bucket for added seating comfort. The plastic zipper bag of cat litter is included because it absorbs moisture and controls odor, he added.

Funding for the Lockdown Bucket program was supplied by the Local Emergency Planning Committee, which donated $1,500 to purchase some of the emergency equipment stocked in the buckets.

In addition, the Highland County Sheriff’s Department spent $1,200 to purchase the first aid kits and the tourniquets, while Rockingham Cooperative donated the buckets.

Citing the number of in-school shootings around the country over the last 25 years, Sheriff Bob Kelly said Highland County so far has been lucky to not be included in this tragic trend.

“Let’s hope we never have to use them,” he added, referring to the buckets.