By David Fleet
Editor
Atlas Twp. — When high school students return to class following spring break a new layer of security will be waiting.
On Monday night, the Goodrich Board of Education voted 7-0 approving a Premier Security Solutions Staffing Pilot program to begin. The pilot program will include two staff at a cost $32 hour per who will be posted at the high school. The staff will be in addition to the current school resource officer.
“Security is one of our main focuses in the district,” said Mike Baszler, district superintendent. “We’ve been looking for ways to increase security at the high school. In addition, the added security will work to deter vandalism and vaping.”
The Brandon School District has contracted with Flint-based Premier Security Solutions since April 2018.
Premier Security specializes in school security and employs retired police officers. The staff will be in communications during the day and when needed after school. The pilot program will be revisited by the school board this July to determine possible future use.
“Our focus is to continue to look for ways to increase, the school board is committed to looking for ways to keep the district safe,” he said.
While the district will have added security, a grant was received that will cover the cost of a district-wide safety assessment.
Grand Rapids-based Secure Education Consultants will visit the district to evaluate vulnerabilities associated with physical security and emergency preparedness.
“Secure Education may uncover things we may not be aware of,” said Baszler.
The service is intended to provide an actionable, layered security posture, from site assessments and in-person training to ongoing support.
The security upgrades approved on Monday were one of several for the district in recent months.
On July 25, 2022 the school board of trustees voted 5-0 to replace about 120 security cameras in the district with newer technology. The upgraded cameras were supplied by Farmington Hills based Capricorn Diversified Systems.
The upgrades are IQ eye legacy security cameras and include: 15 cameras at Reid Elementary; 24 cameras at Oaktree Elementary; 35 cameras at the middle school and 47 at the high school. Upgrades also included Digital Watchdog cameras.
The cost of the upgrade is $80,860 bringing the total cost to $350,951 for the security project. Funding for the project was available in the tech budget.
In addition, thanks to a generous gift from the Goodrich Masons a second lock was added to classroom doors, located at the bottom that can be operated by foot. The Nightlock is a piece of hardware that mounts to the door and another piece mounts to the floor. One end is slid into a slot into the door; the other end fits into a notch in a metal plate mounted on the floor.
In March 2019, the school district joined with Atlas Township to sub-contract with the Genesee County Sheriff Office for a school resource officer. The SRO will serve nine months with the school district and three months on patrol in Atlas Township.
In August 2022, Genesee County Sheriff Deputy Brian Compeau was named the new school resource officer.
Compeau is a Goodrich resident, a 2002 Goodrich High School graduate and has two children in the district. He replaced Deputy Casey Seeley who served since 2019 and was the first SRO for the school district.