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Michigan School Safety Commission Minutes January 28, 2021

Michigan School Safety Commission Minutes January 28, 2021

The Michigan School Safety Commission meeting was held on Thursday, January 28, 2021. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting was held via Microsoft Teams. 

The meeting was called to order at 2:01 p.m. by Lt. Col. Chris Kelenske. Roll call was taken by Ms. Holden.

The following commission members were present via Microsoft Teams:

  • Lt. Col. Chris Kelenske, on behalf of the Michigan State Police (MSP)
  • Chief Ken Plaga
  • Ms. Justine Galbraith
  • Mr. Larry Johnson
  • Mr. Kyle Guerrant
  • Ms. Elizabeth Newell

Staff present via Microsoft Teams:

  • Ms. Nancy Becker Bennett
  • Ms. Lindsey Holden
  • Lt. E. Scott Seida
  • Mr. Jason Guthaus
  • Ms. Logan O'Neal
  • Ms. Beth Beattie
  • Ms. Mary Drew
  • Mr. Jonathan Allen

The following guests were present via Microsoft Teams:

  • D/Lt. Scott Layman, MSP, OK2SAY
  • Mr. Tim Bourgeois, MSP, MCOLES
  • Mr. Brian Gard
  • Mr. Rick Joseph
  • Ms. Elizabeth Nagel on behalf of Ms. Elizabeth Hertel

Approval of October 22, 2020 Meeting Minutes
October 22, 2020 meeting minutes were reviewed. Mr. Johnson motioned to approve the meeting minutes as presented.  The motion was supported by Chief Plaga and all were in favor.  The minutes were approved as presented.

Approval of Agenda
Ms. Galbraith motioned to add Safe Gun Storage to the agenda. Mr. Guerrant seconded the motion. Lt. Col. Kelenske added Safe Gun Storage to the agenda under New Business. Chief Plaga motioned to approve the meeting agenda as amended.  The motion was supported by Mr. Guerrant and all were in favor.  The agenda was approved as amended.

Old Business

  1. Incident Report - Ms. Bennett

    Due to confidentially of the information included in the incident report, the report was not sent electronically to members. Ms. Bennett gave a quick overview of the report.  Members were asked to contact Ms. Bennett directly with questions or to request specific information.

  2. Office of School Safety (OSS
    1. Recommendations Priority Survey Results - Ms. Beattie reviewed survey results. The OSS holds a supporting role in many of the recommendations; of the top three priority recommendations, MDE is the lead agency. Since there are currently four commission vacancies, OSS staff will wait until the vacancies are filled, survey new members, and adjust results as needed.    
    2. Dr. Carlson Update - Ms. Bennett gave an update on the project with Dr. Carlson. He has worked with MDE in the past and will have a graduate student assisting with the project. Dr. Carlson will be invited to join future commission meetings. 

New Business

  1. OK2SAY Update - Ms. Drew, D/Lt. Layman

    D/Lt. Layman discussed OK2SAY hotline annual report numbers.  There was an overall decrease in calls over the last year and an increase in cyberbullying calls.

    Ms. Drew discussed the OK2SAY outcome reports completed by school personnel and law enforcement professionals; 92% found the information useful, 90% felt they received sufficient information, and 73% stated they had received new information. Ms. Drew emphasized the hotline information needs to get in front of students multiple times to register the message and be beneficial. OK2SAY staff is currently working on streamlining the process by partnering with others agencies that may have similar information.  The team hopes to work with schools and present OK2SAY virtually.

  2. Office of School Safety (OSS) - Ms. Bennett

    Ms. Bennett thanked Lieutenant Seida for his work with the OSS. Lieutenant Seida's last day with the OSS will be February 7, 2021.

  3. Safe Gun Storage - Ms. Galbraith

    Ms. Galbraith discussed safe gun storage including how to get information into schools and how to educate households on safety topics around gun storage. Lt. Col. Kelenske reminded members the commission can work on items without making them official recommendations. Mr. Guerrant will check with MDHHS to see if safe gun storage is addressed in the Michigan Model. OSS will also keep safe gun storage on the list of items for future newsletter topics.

Public Comment
Mr. Gard asked if there were any updates on the Great Lakes Homeland Security Conference.

The Great Lakes Homeland Security Conference will be held August 17-19, 2021 and there will be a school track at the conference on August 18, 2021.  Once registration information is available it will be sent to commission members.

Adjournment
Ms. Galbraith moved to adjourn the meeting.  The motion was supported by Mr. Guerrant.  The motion was approved by all.  The meeting adjourned at 2:58 p.m.