Schools
PCCS : Important Updates From P-CCS Concerning School Safety
While we look forward to reopening our doors for in-person learning tomorrow, it is imperative to remind our students about the importan ...
12/05/2021 5:37 PM
Dear P-CCS Students, Staff, and Families:
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We are writing to give you an update on the investigation of the social media threats that resulted in our decision to close schools this past Friday. Law enforcement officials, in partnership with our school safety personnel, worked closely to investigate multiple social media posts, OK2SAY tips, and information shared from staff, students and families this past week. To date, a thorough investigation of all incidents has determined there are no credible threats of violence to any of the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. Much of the behavior activity investigated this week has been copycat behavior and reproductions of previous school threats from around the country shared on social media.
We continue to thank our law enforcement partners and school safety personnel that have taken every incident seriously, and worked tirelessly to investigate all rumors. We will resume in-person learning at all P-CCS schools and programs on Monday, December 6. Our local law enforcement partners will continue to have an increased presence at all of our schools this week as we remain vigilant to ensure our schools are safe.
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We have received some questions regarding the security measures we currently have in place in P-CCS. While not providing specific details of our security plans, we will offer the following assurances:
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In 2017, P-CCS partnered with a security consultant service to conduct a comprehensive security audit of all of our school facilities. One of the outcomes of that audit was a significant investment in equipment and training that have been a major component of the recent bond work in P-CCS. These upgrades include the investment in additional security cameras, secured vestibules, radios, and a command center that allows our team to get real-time information in an emergency situation.
As required by the State of Michigan, all schools have updated Emergency Operations Plans which include lockdown procedures and best practices around safety drills. Each P-CCS building conducts lockdown and evacuation drills to encompass a variety of situations to ensure that staff and students know what to do in various emergency situations. Three lockdown drills are required for each school annually.
ALICE (Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate) training has been provided to staff in the past, and ongoing training has been planned for those that have not yet been trained, as well as refresher training for those who have previously been trained.
The district recently hired a new Safety and Security Manager who is a certified ALICE instructor and an expert in the field of Active Assailant and threat assessment. He was immediately tasked with reviewing and revising the district’s emergency operations plans and facilitating ongoing ALICE training for all district staff.
Finally, we regularly meet with our law enforcement partners to discuss safety concerns and best practices.
While we look forward to reopening our doors for in-person learning tomorrow, it is imperative to remind our students about the importance of not participating in conversations (either online or in-person) about threats of violence. Even if they are not serious about the threat, or are sharing or reposting a message, their actions could lead to major disruptions to our learning environment and can have serious consequences.
Please also remind your students about the importance of sharing information with a trusted adult, school employee, or law enforcement official instead of circulating it among other students on social media. We encourage adults and students to use the State of Michigan’s OK2SAY Tip Line. The OK2SAY number is 1-855-565-2729, you can text to 652729, or you can send an email to ok2say@mi.gov.
Student safety and well-being remains the number one priority of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. Thank you for your continued support.
Yours in Learning,
Monica L. Merritt
Superintendent of Schools
This press release was produced by Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
