For nearly a decade, the Vail School District has fine-tuned active shooter training for staff.
The staff trained with hopes of being prepared if a situation like the high school mass shooting in Florida, where 17 people were killed by an ex-student, happened at one of their schools.
RELATED: Florida high school mass shooting: 17 dead, ex-student arrested
Deputy Director of Safety and Security with Vail District, John Nunes says their primary focus is, "to protect students, staff, and visitors."
In the heels of the Florida School shooting - @vailschools shares with @kgun what protocols they have in place to be prepared for the worst. Tonight at 6.
"My gut reaction to yesterday was - not again. Something has got to happen to make it stop." - Vail School Deputy Director
— Jennifer Martinez (@Jennymartineztv) February 15, 2018
While Nunes can't disclose some protocols taken by Vail employees, the district does something different.
"We empower our staff to make decisions outside the box, and we don't lock them in and say this is what you have to do in every single circumstance," says Nunes.
The district follows the nationally standardized run, hide and fight. They also allow staff the barricade classrooms as a hard and fast protocol.
Nunes says, "if we can create layers of protection, and we talk to staff on what their options are to do that by if delaying the bad guy .. you're chances of survival skyrocket."
RELATED: Active shooter training at Cienega High School
The Vail School District schedules the Pima County Sheriffs Department and Border Patrol to have training on their campuses.
The educators believe that it gives law enforcement the upper hand to become familiar with their campus in case a shooting were to happen.
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