Teaching on the South Side: Four Alarm . . . Fire?

There were four fire alarms pulled at school today. Three of them in rapid succession: as soon as everyone was almost completely back in the building after the first alarm, someone pulled the next one.

It was an interesting way to spend my planning period.

The final prank alarm was pulled twenty minutes before classes were over. Other teachers and I tried to keep the kids moving out, not letting them stop at their lockers, not letting them loiter or act like school was out. Then the announcement came over the PA: get your stuff and vacate the building. If you have an after-school activity, report there now.

It's not what I would have done, were I in charge, but I understand there were some other circumstances besides possibly undercutting teacher authority to consider.

Every time the fire alarm gets pulled, police and fire trucks are automatically dispatched to the building, of course. I wonder how much that costs? I know that money could be better spent on education, but as long as there are jackasses who would rather pull fire alarms than get an education, these kinds of things will always happen.