Dear Lansing School District Community,
I hope this newsletter finds you well. As always, it is a pleasure to be writing to you all. Today, I would like to discuss communications.
Sadly, as many of you know, there was a major "swatting" incident in Michigan this week. Fake reports of school shootings were called in, as part of a coordinated attack against multiple school districts. The typical reason for this is to create chaos or anxiety around a community. What the caller wants more than anything is for people to react and cause panic and pandemonium.
The reason our school district was able to not react and go about our day was that we have an incredibly strong and open line to law enforcement, both locally and statewide. We also have a lot of experience dealing with crisis management. Within minutes of hearing about the supposed reports in a nearby school district, we were able to know, clearly and cogently, that it was false. Our own internal school safety department, led by Cordelia Black and Bruce Lankheet, was in direct communication with local protection agencies, and I, personally was on the phone with the police chief within minutes of the accusations. Because of those relationships, we were able to know that it was false and then were able to get details around the situation. Once we felt comfortable with the facts, we were able to communicate to our community that we were ok and could go about our day.
But again, communication is key. We sent communications to "all mailboxes" Thus, if your information is correct in our system, then you received something. But if your phone number changed, your email address changed, or if some information we have is now wrong, we can't get a hold of you. And in this day and age, that has never been more important.
Over 20,000 people get this email newsletter. You are all connected in some way to our district. Please make sure that all of your contact information is correct. Please contact your school and make sure not just your email but your cell phone number and your physical address are correct. And please make sure to give us the names of multiple emergency contacts. Put down' grandma and grandpa, aunt and uncle, cousin, and "cousin." The more people we have that can connect to you, the better. Be it the invitation to the parent-teacher conference or the winter dance; we want you to know what is going on. But of course, in real cases of emergency, that strong and open line of communication is paramount.
Here is a positive story about communications. Just two weeks ago, our COO and I were in our respective offices, working late, when we got a call from Dean Transportation. There was a child who hadn't been picked up. Dean had called the numbers on the emergency contact form but couldn't get through. Because our COO and I have access to our entire system, we were able to figure out that the family was related to another family, that there was a brother in one of our other schools, and were able to piece together a family tree that allowed us to get to a grandparent. With a little bit of detective work and access to our systems, we were able to call a relative and have the child picked up and taken home safely. Thank goodness everyone was ok, there had been an accident, and the immediate family had been unable to call the school or Dean.
I cannot overstate how important direct lines of communication are when trying to protect our community. However, it was also communications -- the false reports of a school shooting -- that lead to panic and confusion. And if we are honest with each other, it is communications, usually through social media, by both students and adults, either anonymous or named, that has led to most of the problems we have in school, not to mention a divisiveness among our country that we have never seen.
Controlled, thoughtful, and articulate communication is amazing and can lead toward growth, learning, safety, and general progress. However, mean, pugilistic, anonymous, fear-mongering communications can lead to panic and violence. As we all learn to live with these new communication methods and devices, we as a society have to figure out the correct balance.
Our communications department, led by John McGraw, has done a wonderful job this year, increasing open and thoughtful communication to our district, be it these updates or a multiplicity of other emails, text messages, and robo-phone calls. But, we, as a district, need to do a better job with school phone, email, and text systems. I know there is nothing more frustrating than trying to call your child's school and not getting anyone to answer the phone. We as a district need to do a better job with constant and consistent communication. I know it is frustrating when you send an email or a text and don't get anything in return for weeks. We, as a district, need to work on this.
In return, we will need to start a conversation around cell phone usage in buildings, social media usage when it comes to our schools and our community, and communications in general. Our district should be a leader in creating safe school buildings, where Facebook posts don't lead toward a fight in the cafeteria, or a cell phone call from within the school, can't lead to someone propping open a door to let someone in who doesn't belong. There is a balance that needs to be found, and I look forward to finding that balance collectively with you all.
Thank you so much for all of your incredible support of our district. Together, we will do great things for the children of Lansing.
Benjamin Shuldiner, Superintendent
Lansing School District
