Back to School Safety at Bloomfield Hills Schools

The safety and security of our students, staff, and everyone within our school community is an important part of planning for every school year. We are constantly evaluating and improving our security protocols to provide a safe and nurturing environment for our school community. Below are some highlights of our security protocols that we have in place:

• All of our elementary and middle schools are equipped with secure vestibules. BHS follows best practices and the recommendations as set forth by Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Systems Based Approach to layered school security.
• The Administrator of Public Safety, Patrick Sidge, works in conjunction with district and school administrators, along with local police and fire departments to review and establish appropriate guidelines, procedures, and plans to ensure a safe learning environment at our schools.
• BHS has two School Resource Officers - Officer Lower and Officer Riney. Officer Lower has been a member of the Bloomfield Township Police Department since 2002. Officer Riney has accumulated more than 17 years of experience in various departments. Officers Lower and Riney routinely visit our schools.
• The district nurse provides staff education on issues related to school health, follows-up on health concerns, addresses student specific health conditions, and supports students with emergency plans for medical needs.
• The Emergency Operations Plan sets out a structured approach to handle, prevent, and recover from incidents in a systematic manner, and it is reviewed regularly to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal requirements.
• A secure, district-wide radio network has been established. The two-way radios in all buildings allow district administrators to have direct conversations with one another, school resource officers, and local police dispatch in a critical incident.
• BHS is committed to supporting our students' mental health by having social workers in all of our schools.
• The BHS therapy dog program continues to support our students' attitudes toward attendance, school work, and overall sense of belonging at school.
• BHS has robust cyber security as part of our technology ecosystem to protect our students and staff.
• All individuals that wish to become volunteers in our schools must have a background check completed prior to volunteering, and this has become part of the annual registration process for families.
• The Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of a resolution to periodically disseminate materials stressing the importance of secure storage of firearms and to include this information in the online registration process.

Please visit our safety and security webpage. Stay tuned for Safety Week October 21-25, where BHS will review safety protocols, share safety tips on social media, and more.