Dear Lansing School District Community,
I hope that this newsletter finds you well. As always it is a pleasure to email you all.
I want to write to you about finding a weapon at Dwight Rich. As I am sure you all know by now, on Thursday, a weapon was found on campus. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and we secured it safely and handed it over to LPD.
However, the sheer fact that this happened brings up concerns about safety and security in our buildings. When I arrived in Lansing four years ago, our high schools were having major issues around weapons, as well as serious fights and violence. The change in the last few years has been dramatic. I urge all of you to visit our high schools and see the change yourself. Please don't take my word for it. The work of Principal Boggan and now Principal Scott, of Principal Carruthers and Principal Boyles, has been wonderful. There is a new sense of safety and security with the creation of hallway monitors, more individualized support programs, like mentoring and counseling, and the introduction of metal detectors. I won't say things are perfect, but the change is palpable.
We have not necessarily done the same level of safety and security measures in our large K-8 schools. I think pedagogically, there is a difference in some people's minds around high school safety and "elementary" safety. The idea of metal detectors or hallway monitors seems out of place for a school with 1st graders. But in America today, with the incredibly easy access to weapons and the lack of formal weapons storage, an event like what happened this week is not unusual. Just last week, a student at Center Line High School brought a gun to school, and at least two others handled it during the day.
With these events becoming more commonplace, we must rethink how we look at safety. As I think you have heard me say before, I always want our students to be treated like the best. Not just the best students, but as what the most powerful, richest people get. And you know what powerful, rich people get? They get safety and security. Rich people live in gated communities. When I go see my friends in fancy office buildings in New York, I have to get screened in multiple ways. Even when I go see the Mayor, I, the Superintendent of Schools, have to go through a metal detector. And, of course, any Lions game I go to or airplane I take, I have to go through metal detectors and screening. Our students and staff deserve this level of protection.
However, this protection must be done with love, support, and kindness. That is why when visitors have to hand their IDs over at schools so we can do a quick background check, we urge the secretaries to say it with a smile, offer the visitor some water or coffee, or just a nice place to sit. That is why when you go through the metal detectors at our high schools, they are run by our public safety officers, who know and love our kids. That is why our hallway monitors create supportive relationships with kids and our staff, not just get the students to class on time. We, as the Lansing family, deserve the same level of security as we do when we go to see the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.
The other huge conversation we, as a community, need to have is around safe storage. Far too often, weapons get into the hands of children because they are curious about them and open the drawer where they know they are located. They open the glove box of the car when no one is looking. They go under the bed and remove it from the shoe box it is "stored" in. The more we can do to get families to store their weapons safely, the better it will be for everyone.
I know that this might cause families, staff, and students some consternation, and I am not saying that the district will immediately make systemic changes. But I wanted you to hear directly from me as transparently and openly as possible about what we, the district, and the community can do. I look forward to hearing from you about this topic. And please know that I, along with the Board, and the community writ large, will be spending much of our time during the summer to try to come up with a comprehensive plan for our district.
Thankfully, no one was hurt this time. Let us not wait for another time in order to act.
Thank you so much for all of your incredible support of our district. Together, we will do great things for the children of Lansing.
Benjamin Shuldiner, Superintendent
Lansing School District
