It Takes a Village

By DR. KELLY COFFINSupt. of Tecumseh Public SchoolsAs you probably know by now, we had a situation at our high school last week that was a cause for concern. To summarize, we had students who were part of a plot to harm our students and our staff at the high school. The school worked with the Tecumseh Police Department throughout the entire initial investigation. At this time, the official investigation has been turned over to law enforcement. This is certainly not something I or anyone else wants to communicate to our community. There are many who feel we didn’t communicate enough, we didn’t communicate specifically to certain groups first or that we are not sharing identifiable information about the students involved. To answer the first two questions regarding communication, I think it is important to understand that this situation came to our attention Thursday morning, September 11th and was communicated out on Friday afternoon, September 12th. As with any investigation, it is important to remember that information is discovered in waves, not necessarily all at one time. I commend our high school staff for their work throughout this investigation. The last question about sharing identifiable information, the students involved are minors and therefore we are not able to share that information at this time.I would like to speak personally about this situation and the impact that it has had on our school community. First I need to say that this is “personal” — not just to me but to our Administrative Team. Most members of our team have children of their own walking the halls at Tecumseh Public Schools. If they don’t now, they have in the recent past. Safety of our students is always our primary concern. What kept our students safe? Was it the buzzer system at the front door? Was it the sign in/sign out policy we have in our district? Those may have helped. I will argue that the primary reason that this plot did not become an implemented plan was due to the adults in this community who care about our children. This includes the two community members who called in anonymous tips that morning. It includes the high school custodian who builds relationships with students during the work day and took the time to mention to an administrator a concern about one of the students. It includes our high school administrative team who took this information seriously and spent two entire days (morning and night) piecing together the information as it was received. It includes our high school staff who continued to monitor students in the classroom throughout this investigation; providing our students with normalcy throughout the investigation. That, in my opinion, is what kept our students safe.This could have turned out in so many different ways — many ways that cause me to lose sleep at night. While many may be upset because of the way the information has been communicated, I gladly accept that feedback. We as a district continuously look for ways to improve our communication with families and the greater community. However, I will listen each and every day to these concerns, rather than ever have to communicate with families that we as a school were unable to protect your children. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for the two community members who had the courage to report their suspicions, to the custodian who went the extra mile to notice a student in trouble, and to a high school staff who kept the safety of all students a top priority. I consider myself so fortunate to live and work in such a wonderful community.

Tecumseh Herald

 

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