The South Lyon School Board surprised South Lyon’s City Council by announcing that South Lyon High School will now implement the use of a School Resource Officer from Oakland County.

Monday night, School Board President Randall Clark informed South Lyon’s City Council that starting March 1st, The Oakland County Sheriff Department will be providing South Lyon High School with an SRO. The announcement was made during Public Comment and caught all council members by surprise. According to Clark, an agreement to fund an SRO for the high school has been made between the school board and Lyon Township. The high school has been without an SRO for over a decade after the city cut funding for the position due to an economic decline. The surprise announcement received mixed emotions among the city council. One council member who was in favor of the announcement was Mayor Pro-Tem Margaret Kurtzweil. Kurtzweil said she was pleased that a more financially stable community such as Lyon Township stepped up to support a major issue that needed to be addressed.

Noticeably upset by the announcement was South Lyon Police Chief Lloyd Collins. Collins said he was disappointed in the lack of communication between the school board and city of South Lyon. When asked for a comment regarding the announcement, Collins chose not to speak on the matter saying he would, “Bite his tongue and investigate the matter with the school board.” He also described the announcement as an ambush by the school board. (DF)