WT Moore Elementary School recently served as the site for a large-scale tabletop safety exercise designed to strengthen emergency preparedness and coordination among schools and first responders.

The exercise brought together school leaders, law enforcement, and emergency response agencies to walk through realistic scenarios and evaluate how each group would respond during a critical incident.

Billy Millard, Principal of WT Moore Elementary, explained that the goal of the exercise was to think critically about potential emergencies and ensure staff and responders are aligned.

“It’s a way for us to think critically about something that could happen,” Millard said. “We’re trying to build muscle memory — to make sure we know what we would do in the event of an actual emergency.”

Millard noted that these exercises allow schools to review their processes, identify gaps, and reinforce practices that are already working well.

One of the most valuable takeaways, he said, was hearing directly from law enforcement about how they would respond on campus.

“We feel like we’ve been trained and we know what we would do,” Millard said. “But at the same time, we need to be able to hear what law enforcement officials would do if they came and responded to an event on our campus.”

Jimmy Williams, Chief of Safety & Security for Leon County Schools, said the exercise was a Critical Moves tabletop model — a newer approach to emergency training — and one of the largest the district has conducted in recent years.

“This is how we learn,” Williams said. “If there are gaps or weaknesses in our plans, we want to find out what they are and address them immediately, so that we can respond appropriately.”

Williams emphasized that communication is often the biggest challenge during major incidents, making joint training essential.

“In all major events over the last 40 years, the number one failure is lack of communication,” he said. “By pulling all these agencies together, we’re able to improve how we communicate, plan together, train together, and exercise together.”

Leon County Schools conducts tabletop safety exercises every school year and full-scale emergency exercises every few years, but this event marked the first time the Critical Moves model was used in Tallahassee.

Williams also stressed the importance of keeping parents informed and confident in school safety efforts.

“One of our primary responsibilities is instilling confidence in parents that we do have plans, and that we train and exercise year-round,” he said. “We don’t just react when a crisis hits — we implement plans we’ve already practiced.”

Both leaders highlighted the vital role the community plays in keeping schools safe.

“Part of our safety and security plan is our community,” Williams said. “We cannot do it just by ourselves.”

As always, families and community members are encouraged to report concerns by calling 922-KIDS or using the FortifyFL app.

If you see something or hear something, please say something.

Participating Agencies

• Florida Department of Law Enforcement
• Florida Department of Emergency Management
• Tallahassee Police Department
• Tallahassee Fire Department
• Leon County Emergency Medical Services
• Leon County Sheriff’s Office
• Consolidated Dispatch