Schools
PCCS : P-CCS School Safety Updates (March 10, 2022)
See the latest announcement from Plymouth-Canton Community Schools.
03/10/2022 4:25 PM
P-CCS Students, Staff, and Families:
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
We are writing to provide our school community with a final update following the lockdown that occurred on December 9, 2021, on the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park campus. We want to thank you for your patience in providing the district space and time as we worked in cooperation with the Canton Police Department to conduct a complete and thorough investigation. We know how important understanding what occurred is to our community, and it was equally important that Canton PD was able to complete its investigation without potential interference.
The case has now been closed after all leads have been exhausted, and the thorough investigation concluded with no weapons being found either on or off campus, and no substantiation that there was a person on campus with a weapon.
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A lockdown incident is something P-CCS staff members train for but hope to never have to utilize. Our district is extremely proud of the professionalism and courage exhibited by our students and staff during the uncertainty of a lengthy lockdown. P-CCS, along with our municipal and first response partners, has reviewed and recently debriefed every aspect of our response to this incident to ensure our protocols were followed as well as identify any areas where the district can improve our response. Based on these reflections, we will continue our commitment to providing essential resources and training to our staff to ensure proficiency in responding to situations that may occur within our schools.
We are pleased to share that we have received tremendous support and opportunities through partnerships and connections within the P-CCS community. A passionate group of district parents has organized an effort to offer support and contribute solutions for school safety through the formation of the School Violence Prevention Coalition, which will be collaborating with the Project Safe student organization; and last week, the district was approved for a $16,075 grant from Team Depot, the associate volunteer force for Home Depot, to start supplying our classrooms with lockdown kits. These kits will be utilized by classrooms in the event of a school lockdown to provide restroom functions, ability to provide basic first aid, and other vital needs. Team Depot’s grant covers the building of 225 lockdown kits to cover roughly half of our classrooms district-wide.
During a recent school safety panel discussion produced by our local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, we mentioned the generosity of Team Depot — and shortly following the meeting, members of both clubs offered to provide additional funding to help cover the remaining classrooms that are not funded by the grant. These amazing displays of support from our local community to support students and staff are appreciated and will have a lasting impact on the safety and security of our learning environments.
P-CCS is grateful for the law enforcement officers and first responders from our region who deployed to this incident. P-CCS has regularly prepared and trained with our law enforcement partners to respond to situations of this nature. This cooperation between the district and these valued agencies has provided an understanding and trust that undoubtedly contributed to a successful conclusion of this incident.
As part of the continuing commitment to safety, the P-CCS Board of Education approved a resolution concerning the safe storage of firearms during the January 25, 2022 Regular Meeting (video of which can be viewed here). The resolution highlights several facts to support the importance of this issue for students and families in our community, and it also directs the district to lead conversations regarding the importance of secure gun storage, as well as to continue our work with local law enforcement and health agencies to increase efforts to inform about secure storage of firearms in homes. You can view the official Board of Education Resolution #22-01-40 here via the official P-CCS website.
The safety and wellbeing of all students and staff remains the number one priority of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. We appreciate your continued support.
Monica L. Merritt
P-CCS Superintendent of Schools
P-CCS Students, Staff, and Families:
We are writing to provide our school community with a final update following the lockdown that occurred on December 9, 2021, on the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park campus. We want to thank you for your patience in providing the district space and time as we worked in cooperation with the Canton Police Department to conduct a complete and thorough investigation. We know how important understanding what occurred is to our community, and it was equally important that Canton PD was able to complete its investigation without potential interference.
The case has now been closed after all leads have been exhausted, and the thorough investigation concluded with no weapons being found either on or off campus, and no substantiation that there was a person on campus with a weapon.
A lockdown incident is something P-CCS staff members train for but hope to never have to utilize. Our district is extremely proud of the professionalism and courage exhibited by our students and staff during the uncertainty of a lengthy lockdown. P-CCS, along with our municipal and first response partners, has reviewed and recently debriefed every aspect of our response to this incident to ensure our protocols were followed as well as identify any areas where the district can improve our response. Based on these reflections, we will continue our commitment to providing essential resources and training to our staff to ensure proficiency in responding to situations that may occur within our schools.
We are pleased to share that we have received tremendous support and opportunities through partnerships and connections within the P-CCS community. A passionate group of district parents has organized an effort to offer support and contribute solutions for school safety through the formation of the School Violence Prevention Coalition, which will be collaborating with the Project Safe student organization; and last week, the district was approved for a $16,075 grant from Team Depot, the associate volunteer force for Home Depot, to start supplying our classrooms with lockdown kits. These kits will be utilized by classrooms in the event of a school lockdown to provide restroom functions, ability to provide basic first aid, and other vital needs. Team Depot’s grant covers the building of 225 lockdown kits to cover roughly half of our classrooms district-wide.
During a recent school safety panel discussion produced by our local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, we mentioned the generosity of Team Depot — and shortly following the meeting, members of both clubs offered to provide additional funding to help cover the remaining classrooms that are not funded by the grant. These amazing displays of support from our local community to support students and staff are appreciated and will have a lasting impact on the safety and security of our learning environments.
P-CCS is grateful for the law enforcement officers and first responders from our region who deployed to this incident. P-CCS has regularly prepared and trained with our law enforcement partners to respond to situations of this nature. This cooperation between the district and these valued agencies has provided an understanding and trust that undoubtedly contributed to a successful conclusion of this incident.
As part of the continuing commitment to safety, the P-CCS Board of Education approved a resolution concerning the safe storage of firearms during the January 25, 2022 Regular Meeting (video of which can be viewed here). The resolution highlights several facts to support the importance of this issue for students and families in our community, and it also directs the district to lead conversations regarding the importance of secure gun storage, as well as to continue our work with local law enforcement and health agencies to increase efforts to inform about secure storage of firearms in homes. You can view the official Board of Education Resolution #22-01-40 here via the official P-CCS website.
The safety and wellbeing of all students and staff remains the number one priority of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. We appreciate your continued support.
Monica L. Merritt
P-CCS Superintendent of Schools
This press release was produced by Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
