ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New guidelines adopted by the New York Board of Regents last week will change the way students in schools across the state experience mandatory active shooter drills.

When over six million kids across New York go back to school in the fall, a new law will require parents to be notified one week in advance of any of the state’s four required lockdown drills.

“I’d like to talk to my, ya know, my second, third, fourth, fifth grader and let them know what’s happening the next day,” said Frank Ferraro, a father of four.

Ferraro says even though his kids are out of grade school, notifying parents about active shooter drills is important.

“I don’t think there was ever anything to do with a gun lockdown or anything like that. Maybe like that there may have been lockdowns, but that was because something was happening,” Ferraro said.

According to the State Education Department, the new guidelines will go into effect July 31. Along with parental notification, lockdown drills are required to be “age appropriate” and “trauma informed.” The change comes after a bipartisan push by lawmakers to reduce the required number of lockdown drills from four to two per year.

“If somebody is going to scare them with somebody coming in with a gun, and they want to train them for that…You know, we should talk to them before that happens,” Ferraro said.

State law requires schools hold at least eight evacuation and four lockdown drills each year. New York increased the number of required school drills in 2016 — more than 47 other U.S. states.

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