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In wake of shootings, schools spend thousands on security

News Photo by Julie Goldberg Alpena High School Principal Tom Berriman, left, talks with school security officers Janie Szejbach and Jan Wawro on Friday.

ALPENA — Alcona Community Schools has spent $329,000 on school security since July 2017, the most of any school district in Northeast Michigan.

That is an average of $480 per student — the highest among Northeast Michigan school districts — on a new phone system that is linked to Alcona County’s 911 system so the school can communicate with the county at all times, on new doors and locks throughout the district, on cameras, additional key fob systems at new entry points, a new name badge system, active shooter drills, and other items.

The bulk of the district’s security spending went toward new doors and locks, purchased with a $247,519 grant from the Michigan State Police.

“If we have opportunities to tighten some areas or improve procedures or protocols in place, we’re going to try to do it,” Superintendent Dan O’Connor said. “It’s not a choice in our mind.”

Schools in Northeast Michigan and across the country have implemented new security systems after shootings around the country in recent years. In 2018, there were 24 school shootings with injuries or deaths in the U.S., with 28 students killed, according to Education Week. No shootings occurred in Michigan.

The other six school districts in Northeast Michigan — Alpena, Atlanta, Hillman, Onaway, Posen, and Rogers City — have spent a combined $383,670 on school security in recent years, according to data provided to The News through Michigan Freedom of Information Act requests.

That’s a total of more than $700,000 in shool security spending in recent years, which area school leaders said is money well spent.

Alpena Superintendent John VanWagoner said that, when parents or grandparents drop off students or send them on a bus, they expect to see their children at the end of the school day.

“As a parent and superintendent, my highest priority is making sure every student is safe,” VanWagoner said.

‘WE HAVE A PLAN OF ACTION’

Alpena Public Schools has spent more than $234,000 since July 2017 on bus security cameras, liaison officers, afterschool security at Thunder Bay Junior High School, security at Alpena High School and the junior high, and more.

Since the middle of the 2018-19 school year, the district has used a Raptor security system that checks classroom visitors’ IDs against the the national sex offender registry.

The system cost the district over $89,000, obtained through a Michigan State Police grant, to implement at every elementary school and the junior high. VanWagoner said the system has had no issues so far and has been useful to the district.

Atlanta Community Schools spent over $13,000 for a school security camera system and rekeying the building last school year, Carl Seiter, superintendent of both Atlanta and Hillman Community Schools, said.

Hillman spent almost $11,500 on school security last school year. Seiter said that was for a buzzer, audio, and video system at main entrances at Hillman Elementary School and Hillman Jr./Sr. High School, along with rekeying the buildings.

Hillman voters passed a new property tax in November to bankroll a district sinking fund that will be used to add security to both buildings during the 2019-20 school year, including a security camera and a student pick-up software system.

Onaway Area Community Schools has spent over $22,000 since July 1, 2017 on school security. Superintendent Rod Fullerton said the money was spent for a variety of cameras because the district wasn’t sure what it needed.

“We’ll continue to use them and try them out,” Fullerton said.

Onaway also purchased a buzzer system and there are monitors in five offices so people can see from a panel who is at the door and can buzz them into the school.

“We were able to grant proximity cards and the sheriff’s office has access, so, if they were to have to come into our building, they can get in through their access cards through different points,” Fullerton said.

Posen Consolidated Schools spent around $15,000 from 2013 through Aug. 26. The district has a security door lock system and cameras in the school and on buses. Most of that work was paid for by a Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan grant and through the sale of bonds Posen voters supported in 2013, Superintendent Michelle Wesner said.

Wesner said the district has cameras throughout its hallways and at the entrances that were installed by Presque Isle Security and Surveillance. She said all safety drills were done at no cost to the district.

“We had an evacuation drill June of 2018 with all staff involved,” Wesner said. “We have a plan of action in place should an unfortunate event ever take place.”

Since July 2017, approximately $87,000 has been spent by Rogers City Area Schools for school security. Superintendent Nick Hein said the buildings were renovated to improve on efficiency and safety.

Rogers City’s Board of Education has allocated funds each year toward safety and security of students.

“Rogers City has been ahead of the game of student security, not just since 2017, but over the past decade,” Hein said. “We take our responsibility seriously to build on the solid security foundation already in place.”

MORE UPGRADES COMING

“School security is important everywhere,” Seiter, the Hillman and Atlanta superintendent, said. “The notion that ‘this can’t happen here’ is a careless and unprepared thought process.”

That’s why districts said they’ll continue spending on security.

Fullerton, the Onaway superintendent, said he wants to continue expanding the number of cameras in his district.

“We’re a little weak in coverage in our elementary (school) right now,” Fullerton said. “We’re looking at a significant amount of cameras between this year and next summer.”

In Hillman, Seiter said that, “with the sinking fund, we plan to add security cameras at both buildings (and) a parent pick-up software that helps organize the parent pick up at the end of the day. These items will be put in place during the 2019-20 (school year).”

Hein, the Rogers City superintendent, said he plans to upgrade cameras in his schools, but the district will receive feedback from staff before making that costly upgrade.

At Alcona, O’Connor between $50,000 and $100,000 of internal keys and locks on doors have to be upgraded.

“We’re tackling the list that was provided to us by a security consultant and really trying to prioritize from there,” O’Connor said. “Entrances are an extreme priority right now for both the buildings, particularly the middle/high school.”

Seiter said Atlanta will have a secure front entrance completed next summer as part of a host of renovations funded through the sale of bonds. Visitors would have to enter through the office to get buzzed in before they have access to the rest of the building.

Atlanta voters approved the sale of about $6 million in bonds in August 2016 that are expected to take 15 years to pay off throughout a property tax increase.

Seiter said the focus in Atlanta and Hillman will be refining procedures to ensure the districts are as prepared as possible for situations.

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