Report: Security at Brighton Schools among best in Michigan

Source: Yahoo

BRIGHTON -- The security at Brighton Area Schools is among the best in Michigan and the U.S. -- according to one of the country's largest school security consulting firms.

Secure Environment Consultants President and Founder Jason Russell spoke during a BAS Board of Education meeting on Monday, June 10, to provide an overview of the findings of a security assessment the firm conducted over the past several months.

SEC's sole focus is working with schools and childcare centers. The company is headquartered in Grand Rapids and has other offices locally and nationally.

Russell, who founded the company in 2013 and works with between 60% and 70% of all districts in Michigan, told board members the retired school resource officer who led the assessment on behalf of the firm called Brighton the "best district he has assessed" in the state.

"He was pretty impressed, and he's (conducted) dozens of assessments for us," Russell said.

While he declined to share detailed findings -- common for school security matters -- Russell indicated the number of recommendations for fixes were low compared to most other clients and "relatively minor."

He mentioned increasing two-way radio communications across the district and the number of building tours from deputies with the Livingston County Sheriff's Office.

"We don't want to go any further than that publicly, but I can say that Brighton is in very good shape," Russell said.

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Before introducing Russell, Brighton Superintendent Matt Outlaw said the district has been "aggressive" with its focus on creating a safe and secure environment for staff and students, a statement Board President Roger Myers agreed with during a recent conversation with The Daily.

Myers credits Outlaw and his administrative team with staying on top of trends and working with SEC to continue improving security.

"It's been a focus of (the administration) and (local residents)," Myers said. "Everyone understands the importance."

Trustee Andy Storm asked Russell if there were any lessons learned following tragic school shooting at Oxford High School in 2021 that would be of interest to Brighton. Russell said one of the biggest takeaways from Oxford was the importance of behavioral threat assessments on individual students. He said that did not appear to be a major issue in Brighton, based on SEC's assessment.

"That's one of the biggest things we wanted to (accomplish) with SEC, was to get outside experts to come in with fresh, unbiased eyes and tell us how we could improve," Outlaw said. "It's a sad reality today, but we want to be productive with everything we're doing (with security) so that we can fill in as many gaps as possible."

-- M. Alan Scott is a freelance writer for The Livingston Daily. Contact the newsroom at [email protected].