SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Spanish Fort Elementary School classes are back to normal and students and staff are being applauded for the way they handled the evacuation plan, Principal Rebecca Comer said Thursday.

According to Baldwin County Schools spokesman Terry Wilhite, shortly before 11 a.m. on Oct. 25, the school was evacuated due to a gas leak.

It was quickly capped off but 780 students and 90 employees were evacuated to the former Christian Life Center on the Daphne High School campus.

Students ate lunch and were transported back to the school, while others were picked up by parents.

Comer said she sent home a letter to parents last week detailing what happened at the school on the day of the incident. The following week, another letter was sent home to parents giving even more detailed information such as what happened and why the school made the decisions it did.

She said it is extremely important to do fire drills correctly, and that’s what the kids did. She said it went smoothly because the kids have had so much practice with drills. The school has a planned fire drill once a month, and it also has a lock-down and tornado drills twice a year.

During the recent incident, Comer said the teachers were “magnificent” and took charge of their classrooms. “The kids remained calm and focused because the teachers were calm and focused,” Comer said.

Though this was the first time the school has ever had to do an evacuation like this, Comer said the children and teachers knew what to expect. The students were well behaved and listened well to the instructions given. The crisis management plan includes evacuation procedures.

SFES has five certified bus drivers on staff who were able to make immediate preparations and get the buses in line, Comer said. The kindergarten students were not on location because they were on a field trip, Comer said.

Comer said Rockwell Elementary Principal Robby Owen called to offer bus assistance if needed.

“We did everything we could to make sure no one was in danger,” she said.

Spanish FortpPolice Chief David Edgar provided officers who escorted the buses and helped with the traffic flow. The Spanish Fort Fire and Rescue Department went through each building with their natural gas sensors to make sure the area was safe, Come said.

The day after the incident Comer went to every classroom and spoke with every teacher about the previous day’s events. Teachers also explained to the students about the evacuation. Despite the excitement from the evacuation, the school’s Parent and Teacher Association was able to have a successful Fall Festival at the school that weekend.

“We received a good response from parents,” Comer said. “We don’t want to do this again”