DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Westwood Community School District Superintendent Stiles Simmons need only take a few steps into Thorne Intermediate School before pointing to the new security measures installed since 2021’s Oxford High School shooting.
Simmons must be buzzed into the building and, once inside, must go through the office to reach the rest of the school.
The school’s administrative assistant uses footage from a security camera before buzzing a guest in. The guest is supposed to go to the main office to check in but even if they didn’t, they would be stuck in a vestibule with another set of doors blocking them from the rest of the school.
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Alyse Ley, a psychiatrist and co-director of a program that will work to provide support for students at risk of violence across the state, told Bridge she supports schools using evidence-based ways to mitigate security concerns.
The Adolescent Targeted Violence Prevention Project received $15 million in funding from the state. Ley said the goal is to support young people at risk of violence with services and ensure that law enforcement, schools, and mental health professionals are no longer isolated from each other.
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Learn more from Bridge Michigan here.