February 4, 1998
Custody battles prompt school safety measures
"We try to be as diplomatic as possible and explain why, under court orders, we cannot let their child leave with them," says Central Grade School principal.
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
A father picking his sixth-grader up for lunch seemed harmless enough. But for Silver Lake Elementary Principal Sharon Curtis, the incident three years ago proved anything but routine.
"It was a scary situation," she said.
Scary indeed. The father - who under a court order did not have visitation rights - left school with the child. He safely returned the student after the lunch hour, but the incident underscored a dangerous dilemma: How, with the increasing number of child custody decisions and personal protection orders, do schools safeguard against unwanted visitors?
Silver Lake and other area schools employ specific measures to ensure incidents like this remain few and far between. Student sign-out sheets in the principal's office and notes from home detailing transportation to a doctor's appointment have long been standing school policies.
But Central Grade School and Interlochen Community School have taken safety measures one step further by instituting a program that makes visitors wear badges.
While only a week old, "visitor" badges at Central Grade School have met administrative expectations and parental approval, Principal Sharon Dionne said.
"It's an easy way to help us keep an eye on things by making visitors more visible," she said, noting that the stick-on badges come in shades of hot pink and lime green. "The reaction has been all positive. I think parents appreciate the extra effort to ensure their child's safety."
A rise in child custody decisions and a high volume of daily visitors prompted Central Grade School to adopt the badge program, Dionne said. Under the program, a visitor must check in at the office and show identification to receive a badge. The name is checked with the student's record, which indicates who cannot have access to him or her under a court order. The parent with custody supplies the school with a copy of the court order.
In the past, Central Grade School has dealt with irate parents denied access to their child. "We try to be as diplomatic as possible and explain why, under court orders, we cannot let their child leave with them," Dionne said.
But staying diplomatic as well as neutral parties in bitter custody cases has proven difficult, said Curtis of Silver Lake Elementary. "You have to stay on top of family situations, like a new stepmother or father, and red flag certain student's emergency cards," she said.
Sometimes schools are put in a "sticky situation" when it comes to visitation rights, Curtis said. Last year, for instance, a father from Saginaw called the school to relay messages to his children's mother, who would not speak to him. "It puts us in an uncomfortable spot," Curtis said.
Despite the small amount of custody cases like this at Interlochen Community School, Principal Glenn Solowiej said the school wants to take "a proactive vs. a reactive" stance.
"This is the 1990s and you do have to take precautions in regards to children safety," said Solowiej, whose school implemented a "visitor" badge program two months ago.
"The program was suggested as a way to alert staff to adults in the building that had not checked in at the principal's office," he said, noting that many of the school's 360 students come from nontraditional and single-parent homes.
For parents like Edie Gibbs, president of the Central Grade School Parent Teacher Organization, programs like the "visitors" badge are a welcome addition to the hallways and classrooms.
"The response from parents has been positive," she said "They appreciate the extra effort to keep track of who is coming and going."