Archive: News

Last Saturday Lansing High School was broken into and burglarized.  School Superintendent Stephen Grimm told the Board Of Education Monday that tools and other items were taken.  The burglary was discovered at 10am that morning when it was discovered that tools were missing from a custodian's cart in the building.  "They took some tools and other items that we're still assessing," Grimm reported.

Grimm says the incident will prompt school officials to revisit the issue of security in the schools.  Security was one of the major elements of a capital project that failed in 2006.  Included was a plan to move school offices to major entrances so that office employees could visually assess who was coming in and out of the buildings.  But even that wouldn't have prevented a burglary like this on a weekend when the offices are closed.

"The doors were locked," Grimm said.  "We have a security system.  But if someone breaks in the window there is no way to identify what happened when you are backtracking to see who it may have been or license plates of cars or things like that."

School Board member David Dittman noted that hidden security cameras have been effective at the Statler Hotel at Cornell's hotel school where he works.  But Board President Anne Drake said that the use of cameras is problematic.  "There is a great controversy around hidden cameras in the building," she said.

Grimm says that he wants to involve the community at large in the decision process to determine how much or how little security is needed.  "We have to move forward slowly," he said.  "There are a lot of different options, but we also need to understand the current cultural level.  We can include the community, parents, students, and then come to a collaborative decision.  It's a blip on the screen now that we need to take a look at."

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