EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – After a week of multiple lockdowns due to safety concerns, East Lansing High School was closed on Friday.
Parents want answers after multiple incidents took place at East Lansing high school this past week.
The school board plans on having a meeting Monday to address the recent issues.
East Lansing Mayor Ron Bacon announced earlier this week that he will hold a meeting Friday night to discuss school and public safety. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.
“Until there is real consequences for these things, I think that we’re not going to see an end,” said Nicholas Salinas, a parent of two East Lansing High School students.
There were even reports of a weapon being found in a student’s backpack after a fight broke out at a boys’ varsity basketball game.
“Who’s in control of the school, you know? Do the students run this place or are the parents running this place? And the adults that work here running this place? Right now, it just seems like the kids are kind of just running free, so,” said Salinas.
“There’s a lot of anxiety every single day that my kids come to school. They don’t know what to anticipate. This isn’t a once-in-a-while thing. This school year, it’s become a daily thing,” said Lori Vanderbush, a parent.
Former Lansing police Lt. and newly appointed East Lansing city council member Noel Garcia will attend tonight’s special meeting. He has two twin boys who are juniors.
On Tuesday morning he pulled both his boys from class.
“I was there, solely, as a concerned parent. I worked 25 years in law enforcement and in my career there, I had many times where I had a gut feeling. Or just something didn’t feel right. I had that same feeling Tuesday morning when my son was texting me that they were in lockdown,” said Garcia.
With the recent increase in safety concerns, some parents are even voicing solutions of their own.
“I would go as far as to saying, opening the doors of the school and letting some parents come up there and hang out there during the day. I would take time away from my schedule. I work 6 days a week and I would gladly take a day off school for a few hours and help anywhere I possibly could, whether it’s keeping kids from fighting each other, just talking to kids in the daytime,” said Salinas.
