The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is changing the way schools respond to armed intruders through training in ALICE, Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, the school district announced in a press release issued Monday.

Training and collaboration between law enforcement and school principals is being held this week in Kenai.

“The district’s on-going journey of continuous improvement incudes reviewing how we respond to critical incidents at our schools,” said Dr. Steve Atwater, KPBSD superintendent. “The ALICE training is an important next step in this journey to help us to do all that we can to ensure the safety and welfare of our students and staff.”

The training includes law enforcement representatives from Homer, Kenai, Seward and Soldotna, as well as Homer and Nikiski fire departments and several Alaska State Troopers.

“It is important for the school district to place the safety of students and staff as a priority,” said Dave Jones, assistant superintendent of instructional support. “The ALICE training is an investment into safety in our schools.”

The ALICE program provides options to be used to stay safe in the unlikely event of a violent intruder.

According to information provided to the district by the ALICE Training Institute, the institute “is changing how schools respond to armed intruders. ALICE is a set of proactive strategies that increase chances of survival during an armed intruder event. … While no one can guarantee no casualties or injuries, we can guarantee that passing on knowledge will empower people with options of survival.”

The ALICE program was designed as a supplement to current lock-down or secure-in-place procedures.

• For information about the program, visit alicetraining.com.

• For more about the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, visit kpbsd.k12.ak.us.