2 local school districts offer opposing views on potential new legislation
Local school districts are talking about House Bill 99 which is headed to the Ohio governor’s desk and will significantly reduce the amount of training required for teachers and school personnel to carry a gun.
The superintendent of Trotwood-Madison Local Schools believes there are some other ways you can protect students aside from arming teachers.
Meanwhile, the superintendent at Mad River Local Schools said he’d like to have highly trained staff again in his district.
>> RELATED: Controversial bill allowing adults, school staff to carry guns heads to governor’s desk
If Gov. Mike DeWine signs House Bill 99 into law, the superintendent of Mad River Local Schools said it would be a good thing.
Chad Wyen said, “We’re excited that our legislators made a very good choice and worked together to pass House Bill 99.”
He said they used to have a district response team where trained staff had access to firearms that were placed strategically in school buildings. While the bill does not mention where to safely store a weapon, Wyen wants to bring back that response team.
“By having access in the building and having multiple responders in each building, our goad it to either reduce or eliminate any type of casualties in our schools and eliminate the threat within our building,” Wyen said.
The team has been on hiatus since an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in 2018 stopped teachers from being armed without extensive training.
“There is no way our police department can arrive in time to truly stop an event from happening. Most of the time when first responders arrive that event has already taken place and is over with,” Wyen said.
>> RELATED: House Bill 99: What training will look like
Dr. Reva Cosby with Trotwood Madison City Schools said she doesn’t think more guns in a school building is the answer.
“I think that everybody knows their community. When I think about the Trotwood community, I don’t think that we would feel it makes us safer,” Cosby said.
According to Cosby, the district has ordered clear backpacks for students in grades K through 5th. At Trotwood’s board of education meeting Thursday night, the board discussed purchasing The Evolv Safety System and monitoring software for the upcoming school year.
Cosby believes lawmakers should have talked more with districts before passing House Bill 99.
“For me, I think there should’ve been a lot more opportunity to hear from your communities as a whole from the state of Ohio,” Cosby said.
According to our news partner, WBNS-TV, in Columbus, DeWine said today that he would sign the bill, but did not say when that would happen.
