Royal Oak Schools Safe and Secure
Rank in top 20% of districts nationwide
Royal Oak, Mich. - Royal Oak Schools heard the results of a safety audit and the findings were good. Secure Education Consultants found that the district ranked in the top 20% of districts assessed across the country.
Jason Russell, President of Secure Education Consultants, prepared the review which he presented to the Board of Education at the May 12 board meeting.
"As a district, we have prioritized the continued refining of our practices and protocols for student and staff safety," said Mary Beth Fitzpatrick, Superintendent of Royal Oak Schools. "Conducting an outside audit of our operations and plans was one of those priorities."
The audit process included the following:
- Reviewing procedures and policies
- Examining all facilities
- Interviewing and observing staff
- Recommendations and
- Improvements.
Russell began by stating that Royal Oak Schools was proactive in having this audit completed. He stated that next year the State of Michigan would require all schools to have a safety audit. He added that the majority of the time spent on this audit was looking at the safety process and procedures already in place.
"The goal is prevention, not response," he said.
The following steps were recommended:
- Some increases on training
- Communications
- Threat assessment
- Emergency planning
- Process development
Russell said that Royal Oak Schools has a "great communications system in EPIC," but an increase in training and refreshers for new staff members will be beneficial to the district. He also suggested consistency with emergency plans in each building and a formal process for threat assessments.
"We will act quickly and carefully to execute suggestions from the SEC (Secure Education Consultants) comprehensive review," said Fitzpatrick.
"What the district did was wise," said Russell in closing. "They were open to a review."
You can listen to the audit presentation on the Royal Oak Schools YouTube channel with this link: https://youtu.be/5e10daQy1BI.
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