NILES — On Aug. 28, for the first time in about a decade, canines from the Niles Police Department were guided through the buildings of Niles Community Schools. It was the first dog walk-through of the district’s new drug detection program.

At unannounced times during the year, teachers will be instructed to close their classroom doors as dogs sniff for substances like marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin around student lockers and vehicles in school parking lots.

The detection program is part of a larger series of safety initiatives that are taking place this school year, said Tracy Hertsel, director of student support services for the district.

“We’re just trying to be vigilant in what we’re doing, and training our people the best we can,” he said. “If new things come on, we’re certainly open to keeping our staff as current as they can and up-to-date.”

Hertsel coordinates the district’s safety measures, making sure emergency operation procedures are up to date and the schools are compliant with changes in state law.

He has almost three decades of school leadership experience and more than three decades of volunteer firefighting experience.

Hertsel said the new drug detection program did not start because the district has a drug problem, but because  of the legalization of recreational marijuana and as an effort to be proactive in minimizing dangerous actions.

“We wanted to get out ahead of the curb with what’s been legalized in Michigan and just let people know that even though there is a new law, it is still illegal on school property, for adults and for students,” he said about marijuana.

Students will be kept in classrooms while the canines are at work to prevent distractions and to protect students.

The district is also implementing other safety measures.

Hertsel said the district is nearly done installing the wiring for numerous security cameras that will be installed around school exteriors, hallways, entry points, gymnasiums and at Niles Viking Stadium.

The installation comes from a $442,773 grant awarded in late May by the Michigan State Police’s Competitive School Safety Grant Program.

“This is going to give us extremely good coverage throughout the district, so we are excited about that,” Hertsel said. “It’s well-needed in this day and age.”

Complementing the cameras are security systems on entrances at each district building. To access the spaces inside, staff must swipe a card they are given, and guests and students must be buzzed in.

Through a 2015 bond, the district will also have the ability to close off all air systems at once. The move would be used in case an outside contaminant, such as smoke from a fire, threatened to enter a building, Hertsel said.

The district is also working to bring informational sessions to students and their guardians.

In light of recent nationwide deaths and sicknesses in children and young adults thought to be associated with electronic cigarettes, the district will host forums and bring in a speaker to talk about the objects.

“That’s kind of on everybody’s radar right now, and that certainly is a high-risk area for a lot of people,” Hertsel said.

The district is also working to bring in a speaker to talk about new dangers associated with social media to students. It will do so as Hertsel and others seek to modify emergency operations procedures for new spaces in buildings and refresh teachers on safety procedures such as first aid.

Both districts’ responses to new threats to safety are examples of the ever-changing nature of improving safety measures, he said.

“Every year, the stuff that I would call new-fangled is already old,” Hertsel said. “That’s how fast it’s changing. That’s the unfortunate thing.”