GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (GRPS) – Grand Rapids Public Schools continues to lead the way in school safety by hosting a countywide security training for area school districts.
“This is one of the largest gatherings of school security officers in the state of Michigan,” explained Larry Johnson, GRPS chief of staff and executive director of public safety and school security
This is the fifth year for the weeklong School Security Academy that is being held at GRPS University.
“The importance of this week is to collaborate with neighboring districts. We learn from others. We’re going to share what we’ve learned, share what we’ve experienced,” Johnson said.
“I think it is important for all of the different districts to come together to have a centralized training,” said Jason Bradford, a school security officer at Kent ISD. He said that GRPS’s leadership of the event is critical to safety at schools throughout Kent County. “It’s valuable that a district takes the bull by the horns and brings everybody together so that we can collaborate.”
A big focus of the training this year is training officers on mental health procedures. GRPS teamed with Hope Network to help lead mental health training.
“We want our staff to be able to recognize when a staff or a scholar member may be struggling,” Johnson said. “It is our mission to make sure that we create an environment where students feel safe to come into buildings.”
