GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Public School District announced Monday that students would be allowed to bring backpacks to school again after multiple incidents of students brining guns to school last academic year.
The school district also claims that they have increased safety measures to protect students in the 2023-24 academic year.
Backpacks were removed from schools at the end of the 2022-23 school year following four incidents where guns were confiscated from students. The backpack ban was met with opposition from the community and the district said they listened to their concerns.
District leaders decided that allowing backpacks, alongside other new safety measures, was the correct decision for the upcoming school year.
The district recommends clear backpacks for students to help with monitoring, but is not making that a requirement.
“School safety is our top Priority. We know that our scholars cannot achieve the growth and learning they are capable of unless they feel safe in the learning environment. We took a comprehensive look at our safety procedures and will continue to adapt, learn, and change as necessary,” said GRPS Superintendent Leadriane Roby, Ph.D. “As we continue to engage the community and ask our supporters to Reimagine GRPS with Us!, creating Safe, Healthy, and Healing school environments will be central in our goals. It’s no coincidence that ‘safe’ is mentioned first.”
Some of the measures that the district is undertaking to improve safety for students include:
- Increased Screenings
- Prevention programming
- Mental health and social-emotional learning programming
- Parent Action Leader (PAL) Awareness training
- Scholar forums
- Silent Observer partnership
- Building assessments
- Weapons detectors
- Training
- Crisis after care
“The measures we announced today are part of an ongoing conversation around securing and protecting our schools while fostering a welcoming and warm environment for our scholars. It’s a challenging balance and we will continue dialogue and engagement on how to continue making improvements,” said Larry Johnson, Chief of Staff & Executive Director of School Security and Public Safety. “While we are committed to doing everything within our power in our schools, we cannot do this alone. We need our families to support this work, talk to our scholars and be aware of what our children are taking with them when they leave home.”
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