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A boost to school security

New law welcome, but more needed to protect students

News Photo by Julie Goldberg Left to right, Alpena High School seniors Alexandra Villarreal and Noah Carstens talk with Principal Thomas Berriman and Alpena Police Department Officer Tim Marquardt on Thursday. Marquardt has been the high school’s resource officer since 2011 and is there to provide protection for the school and be a resource for the students.

ALPENA — People who threaten to commit violence against schools, students or employees can be charged with a felony or misdemeanor under a new school security law in Michigan.

The law signed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder in December makes it a misdemeanor to threaten schools. A threat with an overt act toward carrying out that threat is a felony.

School superintendents in Northeast Michigan welcomed the new law, but said the law itself won’t make schools safer.

“I appreciate legislation taking a stand, drawing a line and saying, ‘We’re not going to tolerate this,'” Scott Reynolds, superintendent of the Alpena-Montmorency-Alcona Educational Service District, said. “This does not prevent bad people from doing bad things, but in order to have that change, we need to look at some of the bigger social challenges that our society is dealing with.”

The most pleasing thing about the new law is that it imposes consequences even for students joking about threats, Carl Seiter, superintendent of Hillman Community Schools and Atlanta Community Schools, said in an email to The News.

“School safety is never something to joke about and serious consequences can occur even if you are joking,” Seiter said.

The new law allows boards of education to discuss safety planning in closed sessions and exempts schools’ emergency operations plans from public disclosure, Seiter said. Those plans would normally be available through the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

Schools must also consult with law enforcement on any building project or renovation regarding safety measures, and the new law requires a district to name a school safety liaison to identify and evaluate safety measures.

Seiter said the new law will assist districts in planning and evaluating safety measures. The development of specific safety standards will help districts identify areas of safety that need to be addressed.

Alpena Public Schools Superintendent John VanWagoner said having a security plan in place is important and safety is at the forefront of parents’ and community members’ thoughts. When parents send their children to school, they expect to see their child at the end of the school day, he said.

“I think that having the emergency preparedness item in place and having coordination with law enforcement … I think that’s a really good thing,” VanWagoner said.

If people are at a level of aggression and considering violence toward schools, they may not be considering what the consequences could be, Reynolds said. He said everyone will have to wait and see if this new law will decrease the number of threats made toward schools.

“It holds people accountable should they break that law, and I’m appreciative of that,” Reynolds said.

VanWagoner, however, said the new law by itself will not decrease threats toward schools, but will make sure protocols are in place and that local law enforcements and schools are in coordination.

“Unfortunately, it’s with the amount of people that have social and emotional issues that are in our communities that need some serious behavior resources,” VanWagoner said. “I think, unfortunately, we’re going to continue to see the increase on those threats so the important part is professionals that are ready and understand how to be able to try and deal with those.”

HOW THIS LAW HELPS

The new law will show other avenues of support for the AMA ESD and Pied Piper School, Reynolds said.

“It won’t change how we do business, but it helps us to know that legislation is trying to be forward-thinking in making schools safer,” Reynolds said.

VanWagoner said Alpena is already doing some of the items included in the new law. The district meets with law enforcement regularly to discuss issues and the district’s emergency plan was recently reviewed by Alpena County Emergency Coordinator Burt Francisco.

Alpena Schools will make sure they’re meeting all the aspects of the law, but Alpena will go above and beyond the law if there’s an opportunity to do so.

Seiter said Hillman and Atlanta already have safety measures in place that are practiced and are adjusted on a daily basis.

“Safety is always an area that needs evaluation and improvement,” he said. “The development of safety standards will help us identify areas of concern more quickly. Sometimes, you don’t realize there is an issue until something happens. With these standards, areas of weakness that we have not discussed could be addressed.”

NOT ENOUGH

Local schools already have school resource officers, buzzer systems, and cameras, but local superintendents say that isn’t enough to protect students and staff.

“I don’t think there’s ever going to be enough that we can do to guarantee the safety of every child and staff member — unfortunately that’s the society that we live in now,” Reynolds said. “School resource officers (are) not only as a response to dangerous actions, but school resource officers (are) able to develop relationships with students, be part of the community, there’s some inherent benefits from that that can help reduce criminal activity and add to a positive system.”

VanWagoner said there’s more that could be done for the safety of students and staff. He said Alpena needs the resources to implement camera systems inside and outside of schools

“We don’t have that system in place right now,” he said.

APS can’t update its security with the resources it has, VanWagoner said. The district is considering a $63 million bond proposal that would include money for new security upgrades, among other renovations to school buildings.

The district’s Board of Education is expected to vote on Wednesday on whether to ask voters to approve the bond proposal on the May ballot.

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