Target 11 investigates follows up on fire drill safety

PITTSBURGH — Fire drills are critically important to keep students safe at school.

In November, Target 11 uncovered a problem: Local school districts had been failing to conduct the drills as required. The investigation revealed some shocking information. Pittsburgh Public Schools had been holding fire drills in the middle of the night, on weekends, and over school vacations when there were no students in the buildings.

PREVIOUS STORY: Target 11 investigation uncovers failing school fire drills

At the time, Target 11 talked to Pennsylvania's auditor general, who said he was disappointed with our findings.

"I mean, having a fire drill on Thanksgiving Day does little good for anybody, except for maybe the turkeys," said Eugene DePasquale, the state auditor general.

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Six months later, Target 11 went back to see if anything had changed.

Target 11 requested the latest fire drill logs from December 2017 and January 2018 and noticed a big difference.

Every building owned by Pittsburgh Public Schools did a fire drill according to state standards for those two months, a much different story than in months past when it appeared drills during the winter either didn't happen or happened at times when students weren't there.

"When the story came to us and where we really discovered the inconsistencies with our fire drills, it put us into action to put different plans in place to ensure that every school, every month, would be conducting an appropriate fire drill," said David May-Stein, chief of school performance for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Target 11's story prompted Pittsburgh Public Schools to add extra reports from both principals and custodians to ensure the drills are done properly.

It's news that the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera will like. He recently was in Pittsburgh and Target 11 told him about the findings.

"The reason for a fire drill or a safety evacuation drill or an active shooter drill is to build muscle memory," Rivera said. "So if a student is engaging in this practice, you know often, at least once a month, they'll know exactly what to do in the event of an incident."

No charges or fines were levied because of Target 11's story because the Department of Education and the Auditor General's Office are responsible for catching those problems, but they don't have any enforcement power.

They could've sent the information to the district attorney to take action.

Under state law, a superintendent could face misdemeanor charges.

Cox Media Group