South Kent News

The issue of security was discussed during a recent Caledonia Community Schools board meeting.  

Current Security Resource Officer Pat Stewart handles the issue by going back and forth between buildings, along with two retired Caledonia deputies who are armed and in the secondary schools daily. 

The district has also taken many steps toward improving and training and practicing its safety plans. They have been working with SEC to train staff, they sent some to the Michigan State Police behavioral training and have regular meetings with their crisis teams, along with practice scenarios.

Jason Russell, president and founder of Secure Education Consultants as well as a former Secret Service agent, is working with the school district to safeguard their safety and security plans. His company has been giving consultations on the findings of their district-wide security assessments, and Mr. Russell went over those findings with the board in a closed session, but he also spoke to them in the public session as well. He has three children attending the school district, with his oldest having graduated from Caledonia in 2019.

“You know, schools have done a pretty good job, especially of physical security. I think where the weaknesses generally lie is in the small details. At SEC, we get involved with not only the assessment side but also reviews of incidents,” said Russell. “So, you know, just within the past year, I've responded to four different school shootings. We're constantly looking at ways to improve and hopefully prevent those types of incidents from happening anywhere. But certainly, you know, I want to make sure we take care of this district.”

Mr. Russell explained the process of his assessment, which was done by him and coworker Jason Byrd, former head of the Michigan State Police Tactical Team, and they looked at everything from physical security to daily routines to administrative organization. They sat down and talked with all the administrators to get their insight on different processes. He also talked about some of the shooter training scenarios he did with staff this past fall that he sent “went really well.”