The Lansing School District is getting a $1 million federal grant to improve school security.
The three-year funding from the Department of Justice will provide instruction for teachers and students to help them be better prepared for an event like a mass shooting.
Lansing schools will receive training through the “ALICE” protocol, an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.
“This grant to going to allow us to get full ALICE training and professional development for our entire district,” said Lansing Superintendent Ben Shuldiner. “That means that we’re going to be able to be at this kind of gold standard level for all of our faculty and our kids and our community.”
Office of School Culture executive director Cordelia Black says the district will focus on teaching its staff to follow the right procedures during an emergency.
“And that goes to training: year after year, month after month,” said Black. “It’s not a one-and-done type of deal. This will allow us to implement some structures that will allow us to continue our training on a regular basis.”
The grant will also allow the district to implement a mobile app called RAVE that uses geospatial data to connect staff and students directly with first responders.
Shuldiner says the system is hardwired to 911 services so that it will work even if a building loses electrical power in an emergency.