Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and county police plan to focus more on communication and collaboration when addressing school safety, according to district and police officials.
With new MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor making safety the district’s “No. 1 priority,” former police Chief Marcus Jones, who’s now serving as the head of security and compliance for the school system, said he’s developing a culture that requires all employees to focus on keeping schools safe.
“It’s more than just the security team and the police department providing those [safety nets],” Jones said Wednesday during the county government’s weekly press briefing. “And so we have this … motto that says, ‘It’s my job, it’s your job, it’s our job. We’re all in this together.’”
Acting Assistant Chief David McBain said communication is an “overwhelming positive” for the police and the school system going into the new year. McBain said the police department has met with Jones and Taylor, as well as meeting with athletic coordinators to address safety at sporting events.
The 2023-2024 school year faced several safety issues, including numerous bomb threats, a Paint Branch High School student charged for on-campus gun possession and brawls breaking out at football games.
“We’re coordinating our efforts to just provide a safe school year for our kids, but inside the school, outside the school, around the schools, and obviously, to provide safe routes to school,” McBain said.
One example of communication that McBain highlighted is when the police department releases information about potential concerns, such as when incidents happen off campus that might impact the school day, to MCPS soon after receiving it regardless of the time of day. McBain said this helps give schools time to prepare to handle a potential incident.
While the district is planning to implement some security measures such as installing vape detectors, making the wearing of student IDs mandatory and reforming the way serious incidents are reported, others, such as the operation of the Community Engagement Officer (CEO) program, are just getting clarified. Determining whether the district should install weapons detectors is also in the very early stages of exploration, Jones said, noting security staff will be more visible to address drug-related concerns.
Jones has said there’s confusion surrounding the CEO program, in which police officers are assigned to high school clusters, but don’t patrol within schools. Instead of changing the program this school year, officials are clarifying expectations. McBain said officers won’t be patrolling hallways but will use offices in high schools to be available to staff and students when needed. There are 21 CEOs assigned to high school clusters and the police department is actively filling another position, he said.
In addition to the 21 CEOs, MCPS has more than 280 security staff, plus counseling staff and principals, to address safety concerns.
Before the school year began Aug. 26, CEOs and MCPS security staff trained together to ensure that everyone understood their roles within the school system, Jones said. He also noted there are 70 principals who are in their first or second year as leaders who will be given assistance to understand the different roles between CEOs and security staff as well.