ELPS Superintendent Explains Lockdown Procedures at Board Meeting
During the May 11 school board meeting, Superintendent Dori Leyko gave insight into recent swatting threats that targeted the school district and updated the community on the district’s safety protocols.
Leyko said she has invited the East Lansing Police Department, Meridian Township Police Department and Michigan State University police to review the district’s responses to the swatting incidents. The review will be facilitated by Jason Russell with Secure Environment Consultants, a partner of the district.
Russell has worked with ELPS since 2021, Leyko said, and can act as a neutral facilitator.
“I would say overall student and staff safety was prioritized,” she said, “and I’m thankful that no one was ever in danger on both days of our swatting events.”
Leyko also said during the meeting that some relief could be found in the knowledge that East Lansing was not specifically targeted, as similar threats targeted other Michigan districts in Alma and Napoleon.
“I had a parent ask me, ‘What are you going to do if these continue?’” Leyko said. “Unfortunately, we can’t control that piece of it. We’ll continue to implement our protocols. We’ll continue to err on the conservative, safe side and hope that we become wiser.”
As for the perpetrators of the swatting calls, she said law enforcement is seeking support from other “detective bureaus” to track the calls.
Leyko spoke about the safety protocol the district adopted last year — the Standard Response Protocol from the I Love U Guys Foundation. She said the SRP has been adopted by more than 78,000 districts and organizations and is based on five actions: hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter.
The “hold” keeps students and staff in their rooms, locking the doors and clearing halls. It is used in medical emergencies, she said, when someone might need a stretcher or wheelchair or a situation requires additional support.
“One way we used it on Friday was so law enforcement and the bomb-sniffing dogs could go through our common areas and hallways,” she said. “We use a room hold where business goes on as usual within the room. Students are not locked down. They’re just held in the room with business as usual.”
In “secure mode,” exterior doors across the district are locked and visitors are limited. Leyko said the schools went into secure mode during the bomb threat.
“Lockdown” means all doors are locked, lights are turned off and building inhabitants remain out of sight. The high school utilized the lockdown when it received a threatening call.
“Evacuation” was later used during the bomb threat when students and staff left the building for a specified location, in that case the athletic stadium, before being dismissed for the rest of the day.
Leyko explained that the final stage, “shelter,” is used for hazards and safety. Events like a tornado warning or hazardous material leak would warrant a shelter.
“Not going to lie,” she said, “it was super stressful. You can prepare and prepare and do drills, but when you’re in the moment and so much information is coming at you from so many different people and through different means, you have to make really quick decisions with the best information you have at the time.
“I’m really proud of the way our folks responded. I think they centered student and staff safety, and not just physical safety, but mental health as well.”
The rest of the board meeting moved quickly as trustees disbursed funds and gave committee reports.
The board approved the hiring of two administrators: Kristin Sesti as the high school’s dean of students and Lindsey Loniewski as principal of Whitehills Elementary. Sesti has been a counselor at ELHS since 2023, and Loniewski is new to the district, coming from Haslett, where she was a teacher.