Michigan's new task force on school safety is discussing whether to station more police officers inside school buildings among other solutions to increase school safety following the deadly Oxford High School shooting. Additionally, a plan already moving through the Michigan Legislature makes millions of dollars in state grants available for districts to add more school resource officers.
The state of Michigan doesn't specifically track how many school resource officers are positioned in the over 3,000 school buildings in Michigan. Some districts in rural parts of the state, including in west Michigan, don’t have a law enforcement officer stationed inside schools.
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A local county deputy stationed at Oxford High School was one of the first people to approach the shooter. Eleven people inside the school had been shot and four died by the hands of the gunman on Nov. 30, 2021.
Districts take different approaches to school security. Some have school resource officers, while others work closely with local police departments and sheriff's offices, they tell News Channel 3.
"It's kind of awakened most school districts," said Patrick Creagan, superintendent of Decatur Public Schools.
Prior to the Oxford shooting, Creagan said he had been pushing to get a school resource officer to patrol the three schools in his district of 750 students. He said his district had been historically unable to afford an officer due to a lack of funding.
Creagan said classrooms in his district have automatic locking doors and other security measures, but said an uniformed police officer is most needed.
"With the right person at school, so students understand this person is here to help. It also announces to the community we put safety as a number one priority," Creagan said.
Legislation considered in Michigan would increase appropriations this fiscal year for school resource officers in the state's schools from $10 million to $50 million. The additional $40 million in state grants for school resource officers is part of $369 million in federal COVID-19 relief spending, which passed the Republican-led House with overwhelming support.
The supplemental spending bill, HB 5522, could be voted on by the Senate later this month.
The bill sponsor, Rep. Gary Howell, R- North Branch, said the pool of money is available to school districts who want the officers, which tend to be rural districts who can't afford them, he said.
“A lot of school districts are rethinking what they want to do," Howell said.
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According to estimates, the additional $40 million in funding could provide at least 600 school resource officers in Michigan schools with a cost of up to $80,000 for salary and training costs for each officer.
Jeff Soli, executive director of the Schools, Educators, Police Liaison Association in Michigan, said the statewide police officer shortage has him concerned smaller police departments could struggle to provide permanent police resources at schools.
"We’ve seen in the last few years is not only budget cuts but they can’t hire enough police officers to cover the roads. I think it’s going to be hard to do," Soli said.
Soli said he believed having an officer patrolling inside school buildings would be the most effective solution to improve school security.
"We have buzz-in doors, bulletproof doors, but I’d rather see people. The presence of a person, greeting people as they come in is probably more important than anything else," Soli said.
State education leaders said school districts also are dealing with staffing shortages and shifting priorities.
"In Michigan, we’ve been understaffed at schools for a long time and there hasn’t been dedicated school safety funding. What you see is very uneven distribution of training, resources and support," said Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals Executive Director Wendy Zdeb.
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Zdeb said she favors more officers in schools, but said investments need to be made to provide additional security measures and mental health resources for school districts.
"There has to be a continuum where we’re not saying, 'Oh, a police liaison will save the day.' I think as we all know, we have to make investments in the front end, like student mental heath support," Zdeb said.
Some studies suggests school officers could make schools less safe, particularly for minority and low-income children.
A $240 million provision in the state's budget provides funding to add 562 mental and physical health professionals at Michigan schools, which is about as many police officers in schools as the bill going before the Senate would add.
"It's more the emotional part the kids are really feeling," Creagan said.
Creagan said Decatur Public Schools used federal stimulus dollars to hire more mental health professionals and invested $120,000 in federal stimulus dollars to upgrade security, which includes installing 25 updated security cameras.
Without a school resource officer on campus, the district works with the Village of Decatur Police Department to station an officer nearby.
Rep. Scott VanSingel, R-Grant, chairman of the newly formed school safety task force, said its recommendations on improving school safety could be unveiled as early as February or March.