EDGERTON — Nearly 700 students were evacuated from Edgerton schools Friday, but the exercise was a test of mass transportation capabilities in case of an emergency.
“We have a pipeline that runs (near) the schools and if something should happen there we’d want to get all the students out of the school,” said Capt. Matthew Krill of the Edgerton Police Department and school resource officer.
The students from every grade were evacuated from the school buildings to buses, where they were then transported to Life Changing Church in town.
“That’s the only building in town that can hold that much population at once,” Krill said. “We’re talking a population of 650.”
He added that while that was where the students were sent during the drill, should an actual emergency occur they could be sent anywhere once the evacuation protocols are nailed down.
Krill said the school district has performed similar evacuation drills with students in the past but they all had the students traveling on foot to their destination.
“This is the first time we’ve used buses,” he added.
There were seven buses total used and they each made at least two trips, though Krill said there could be a need for three.
Once at the church, students were kept busy with various activities that were planned ahead of time. The normal dismissal time of 3 p.m. was kept.
Taking part in the exercise were Edgerton police and fire departments, Williams County Emergency Management Agency and Williams County Sheriff’s Office, while members of other state agencies were on hand to monitor the exercise and provide feedback.
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