- After violent incidents in and around our neighborhoods, including a shooting at Michigan State University in 2022, safety was a major piece of East Lansing's $23.5 million bond.
- Now, the district says it's committed to keeping it's students safe, and in turn fostering a healthy learning environment.
- Video shows school safety perspectives from the district and parents.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Soon, students across our neighborhoods will be returning to school. But when you send your child off, you want to make sure they're safe. And districts in our neighborhoods have recently made school safety a priority.
"You know we, in the 2022-2023 school year, had a number of both on-site and local safety issues," East Lansing Public Schools Superintendent Dori Leyko said.
From the swatting incident at Okemos High School, to a deadly shooting just down Abbot Road at Michigan State, East Lansing Superintendent Dori Leyko says those moments sparked urgency in the district to improve safety and security.
"That really put a magnifying lens on everything we were doing school safety-wise," Leyko said. "We immediately added more hallway monitoring throughout the day, and it helped us just ensure kids are where they are supposed to be, bathrooms were clear. All of our entrances, we have a lot of doors in the high school, I think over 85, and while most of them are secure, we do sometimes deal with students letting others in."
And in the spring, the district passed a $23.5 million bond proposal to address some long-term projects Leyko says were necessary for safety.
"The high school does not have a secure vestibule entrance," Leyko said. "And having administration out of the high school so that if there is an emergency or crisis or a lockdown here, we're not locked down in the building as well and we're able to communicate with our first responders and stakeholders."
While East Lansing is doing what they can to keep the physical building secure, parents are also worried about their children's emotional safety.
"Honestly, not great," McKenzie Robins said about her feelings on school safety.
Robins says that feeling comes from not being able to control external factors.
"Just with all the bullying that happens in schools," she said. "And it's really hard for admins and teachers to keep up with it. We're kind of looking into homeschooling, just for safety reasons, really."
However, Leyko says she's heard similar concerns from parents, which is why the district has implemented a school safety team to monitor the hallways, and is trying to foster an environment where students know it's ok to say something when there's an issue.
"It's really building that safe climate and culture, with some of these infrastructure pieces that create a really safe environment," Leyko said. "Because if kids are, and adults, walking around here not feeling safe, it's going to be really hard for them to learn."
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