Aug. 21—TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Area Public Schools hired a full-time safety and security coordinator for the district to begin Sept. 6, the first day of the new school year.
Michigan State Conservation Officer Patrick McManus was picked for the post after TCAPS administrators reviewed about 10 to 15 applications and interviewed six candidates over the summer, Superintendent John VanWagoner said.
McManus has served the last 18 years as a licensed state law enforcement officer, and he has experience as an adjunct professor in the criminal justice department of Kirtland Community College in Grayling. He has an associate degree in applied science, EMT-paramedic and a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, both from Davenport University in Grand Rapids.
According to michigan.gov, conservation officers are fully licensed peace officers who enforce laws and regulations under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. At times, they also act as first responders to natural disasters and emergencies.
TCAPS will pay for McManus's $65,000 salary with state funds from section 97 of the 2022 school aid budget, which allots $168 million to Michigan schools for anything related to school safety on a per-pupil basis.
McManus stuck out from the other candidates because of his experience working with multiple law enforcement entities and his work in education, VanWagoner said.
In his position as school safety and security coordinator, McManus will ensure that the school's state-mandated safety drills run smoothly, and he will work directly with emergency management in the county, local law enforcement, first responders and the district's facilities staff to ensure that the school district's buildings and staff are as secure as possible and prepared for emergency situations.
TCAPS board of education gave administrators the go-ahead June 27 to start the search for a school safety coordinator whose work would focus on the security of all buildings in the district.
School safety is a topic that TCAPS has made a top priority in the past few months, especially after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead, including 19 children. After that shooting, a number of community members showed up at the next TCAPS board of education meeting to express their concerns about school safety and their hopes that district officials will do everything in their power to make sure that their students and staff are as safe as possible on a daily basis.
School safety is listed in their recently approved strategic plan, and they have made a few efforts to improve the safety of the schools' building infrastructure and overall security. Other than hiring McManus, the board of education voted to hire a security consultant to evaluate the district's infrastructure and operations, TCAPS administration has used grant dollars from the state to update exterior doors throughout their district and TCAPS administrators have sought out avenues to hire school resource officers for individual buildings.