Macomb School District 185 will phase out the lunch-time open campus policy at its high school.
Superintendent Patrick Twomey said the decision grew out of a meeting with school security expert Paul Timm. He previously visited the district and is coming back in September to make security recommendations.
Twomey said Timm has already offered one piece of advice. He told the board none of the potential security steps will work if the district continues to have an open high school campus during lunch.
“Open means open. Kids come, they go, and that means other people could come and go. The building is really loose during that time. His suggestion is you just tighten that up,” Twomey said.
The plan will be phased in.
For the upcoming school year, freshmen and sophomores will not be allowed to leave the campus during lunch time. That will be expanded the following school year to include juniors, and no students will be allowed off campus during lunch the year after that.
Twomey said the plan is being phased in because the district wouldn’t be able to provide the additional 250 meals per day that would be required.
He said the district gets reimbursed for meals through the National School Lunch program, so there will be no additional cost to the district once the open campus policy is eliminated.
Twomey said it’s not known when the district might implement other possible security measures.
Timm is affiliated with Safe and Sound Schools, which was founded by parents whose children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. The organization describes itself as “a national non-profit school safety advocacy and resource center that provides research-based tools and support for crisis-prevention, response, and recovery.”
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