On Friday, March 7, there will be a full-scale exercise taking place at Walker-Grant Middle School. This is a non-instructional day, and no students will be on school grounds. The exercise is evaluating members of the City Schools, City Public Safety Agencies, Public Information officers, Dispatchers, and Mary Washington Hospital in the response to an event at the school.
Access to Walker-Grant Middle School and Lafayette Elementary School will be restricted to exercise participants and school staff from 7 AM until 4 PM on March 7. There will be a large number of Public Safety vehicles and vehicles from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management in the area.
These school buildings will be taking part in an exercise to test their response to an active threat. Neighbors around Learning Lane and Pender Street may hear sirens and see realistic emergency response behaviors in this area. All activities will be confined to the school grounds.
This exercise has been put together as part of the Technical Assistance Program offered through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s (VDEM) Training Education and Exercise Division (TEED). After submitting an application as part of a competitive process, the City of Fredericksburg was awarded the Technical Assistance to conduct a full-scale exercise with the support of VDEM. Members of the City’s Police and Fire Departments, Emergency Management, the City’s Communications Division, the Sheriff’s Office, Fredericksburg City Public Schools, and Mary Washington Healthcare together form the Exercise Design Team. They have been hard at work coordinating this exercise since September of 2024. The purpose of this collaboration is to work to ensure a safe and secure environment for our students, teachers, and staff in the schools, as well as for our neighbors in nearby communities.
Access to the site will be limited. Learning Lane is already blocked at Emancipation Highway due to the Culvert Pipe Replacement Project. The gate on Pender Street will be secured and staffed. Only participants in the exercise will be allowed beyond this point.
Public safety training plays a vital role in keeping Fredericksburg a safe and prepared community, equipping the City’s first responders with the skills needed to protect lives and property in any emergency.
