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Schools will have to inform families at least a week in advance, and tell students that the activity is a drill. School officials do not have to tell the parents exactly what day the drill will occur.

The drills cannot “include props, actors, simulations, or other tactics intended to mimic a school shooting, incident of violence, or other emergency,” according to the new regulations. It requires that "drills and training be conducted in a trauma-informed, developmentally and age-appropriate manner.”

Parents have made comments at local school board meetings about being shocked at what their children told them about the drills. One Clifton Park parent said her preschooler, attending a private preschool for children with disabilities, was taught to stand on a toilet seat in the bathroom to avoid being seen. In Albany and Niskayuna, teenagers have attended meetings to describe being terrified during drills, not knowing if it was real.

The original requirement for four drills was passed through legislation. She has proposed legislation to amend that to two drills per year.

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Kathleen grew up in Glenville and now lives in Schenectady. She has covered the Capital Region for various newspapers since 2000, focusing on the interesting people who breathe life into their towns, villages and cities. She is the Times Union’s education reporter. You can reach her at Kathleen.Moore@timesunion.com or 518-918-5497.

Under the new regulation, school officials that want to hold a realistic drill must do it when school is not in session – including sports and other extracurricular activities. Any students who participate must have approval from their parents or guardians.

Saratoga Springs police officers practice active shooter drills at Saratoga Springs High School on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Such drills are now banned during any time that students are on campus. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

“I’m so relieved that the Board of Regents has adopted new regulations to reform our state’s harmful and ineffective lockdown drills, but more changes are necessary, particularly the need to reduce the number of mandated drills,” she said in a statement. “For far too long, we have put students through an excessive number of mandated school lockdown drills - four per year - for no justifiable reason.”

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, a Brooklyn Democrat, who has sponsored legislation to ban realistic active shooter drills, greeted the change with relief.

“In recent years, concerns have been raised nationwide about the unintended trauma or harm to students, staff, and/or families that may result from drills that are not communicated as being practice rather than an actual emergency,” the Education Department said in a written statement explaining the change. “Emerging research has demonstrated that ‘active shooter’ trainings increase anxiety and stress among students, teachers, and parents.”

Beginning in 2016, all schools were required to practice four lockdown drills per year. Board of Regents members said they have heard many complaints about it.

“Training and drills intend to prepare and train, not to scare … so that they may in a sudden emergency be able to respond appropriately in the shortest possible time and without confusion or panic,” the department said in written responses to comments about the proposed change. The responses and comments were posted online with the Board of Regents agenda this past week. The board approved the ban Monday along with many other items in its consent agenda.

The realism of the drills has varied greatly in the Capital Region. Some school officials have sent home letters explicitly telling parents not to talk about active shooters, while teachers tell young children that they are practicing hiding in general. But other schools have had officials jiggle classroom door handles to check if they’re locked, have law enforcement run down the halls armed, or play disturbing sounds over the intercom.

A "victim" is removed from the scene as various law enforcement agencies take part in an active shooter drill on Monday, June 13, 2016, at Chango Elementary School in Malta, N.Y. Such drills are now banned during any time that students are on campus.(Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

But not everyone was opposed to the realistic drills. Multiple people from one school district wrote in to object to the ban, the Education Department said.

ALBANY – Over the objections of some school leaders in New York, who wanted their high schoolers to practice realistic active shooter drills, the state Education Department has banned all such simulations.

“These commenters argue that the active shooter training provided to employees and students in grades 9-12 is essential to preparedness and request that training methods be left to local discretion,” the department said.

Students are evacuated after a fictional threat is controlled during an active shooter drill on Monday, June 13, 2016, at Chango Elementary School in Malta, N.Y. Such drills are now banned during any time that students are on campus. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)