According to a district website, the new Pike Middle School will replace the existing campus almost entirely, with some of the athletic facilities remaining. The new building will be located next to the existing building’s current location and will be open for the 2024-25 school year.
The details
According to a district news release, nearly 200 first responders from all 14 jurisdictions that serve Northwest ISD, as well as agencies outside the district, such as Lake Worth Fire Department and Saginaw Fire Department, participated.
The news release stated that the training sessions included:
- Live instruction for breaching
- Active shooter training
- Search and rescue operations
- “I have been in the fire service for 21 years, and this was my first opportunity to participate in such a training,” said Division Chief Steven Harvey from the Haslet Fire Department. “Many fire departments use props and other resources to try and mimic door breaching or vertical ventilation, but nothing replaces the real thing.”
- “For us, much like the fire department, the structure dictates our main goal,” said Sgt. Chris Bookwalter, a 19-year veteran with the Fort Worth Police Department. “With a school of this size, the first thing I think is, ‘What can I work on in a real-world environment that my newest officers need to experience firsthand?’ We have a great training facility, but we don’t have a school with real construction specifications.”
- “I call it a win-win for everybody,” said Northwest ISD Emergency Manager Mark Bethany, who helped organize the event. “We now know that these agencies have more confidence in responding quicker and gaining faster access to our facilities if they ever needed to. Plus, the agencies went through this together and they’ve built stronger relationships amongst themselves.”
