- Kolby Casaday, a Haslett Public Schools alumnus, works as a school resource officer, leading safety drills and threat assessments across the district.
- State lawmakers are focusing on improving school safety, including expanding SRO programs and supporting tools like OK2SAY, an app for anonymous threat reporting.
- Representative Julie Brixie advocates for funding programs like Prevent 2 Protect, which assess and help at-risk students to reduce violence in schools.
Kolby Casaday is a Haslett Public Schools alumnus and now works in the school district where he grew up.
"When this position came up, it was like a dream come true. I can remember having a school resource officer myself," Casaday said.
His job is school safety.
State lawmakers are focusing on school safety overall for schools that do or do not have an SRO.
The officers have been part of school safety initiatives for lawmakers statewide since the 2021 deadly Oxford school shooting, and a new plan is in the works.
"Which will do anything from expanding and hardening building security to improving OK2SAY, to also supporting our counties with the SRO program and our local school districts," State Representative Jaime Greene said.
OK2SAY is an app that students can use to report threats anonymously.
Democratic Representative Julie Brixie says prioritizing funding for programs in schools like Prevent 2 Protect can help reduce violence.
Prevent 2 Protect is a school assessment program for students who have been identified as a possible threat.
"That’s a really exciting program for gun violence reduction and gun violence prevention that I’d hope we are able to continue moving forward with in the next budget year," Democratic State Representative Julie Brixie said.
State lawmakers are considering whether to require districts that don't have an SRO to have one visit the district to coach school leaders on topics like drills.
Back in Haslett, Casaday covers all the schools in the district, leading those lockdown drills and threat assessments.
"Of course, if there is a serious situation or incident, I'm the one. I am call number one," Casaday said.
He says he also provides a service that stretches well beyond the school walls.
"They're not afraid of me or the police. I think that laying that groundwork for the rest of their life is important—to know that they can turn and run to me, not run away from me," Casaday said.
All state lawmakers return from break April 15.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
For more news about the State Capitol, go to the State Capitol neighborhood page on our website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
