Several Northeast Ohio school districts say ‘no’ to arming teachers
WESTLAKE, Ohio (WOIO) - Following the tragedy in Texas, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine called on the general assembly to pass a bill that would allow local school districts to arm staff members in schools.
“When teachers signed up to become teachers, they came in to instruct students not to come in armed,” said Scott Goggin, Westlake City School District Superintendent.
Technically Ohio teachers could already carry guns, but before HB 199, school staff had to complete 737 hours of peace officer training. The bill reduces that to just 24 hours of training.
“So, I think for a lot of us in schools it’s not incredibly new, you know, and I guess that just the training component is,” said Goggin. “So, I think there’s been thought, and consideration put in, and many districts have already made up their mind I think.”
The legislation allows each school district to set its own policies, so they can also require additional training.
“There was no perfect number, but there was an important amount of training and an important amount of things that we felt was necessary to include in that initial 24 hours and 8 annual hours of training, including at least four hours of scenario-based or simulated training exercises and completion of tactical live firearm training where you’re actually using a firearm and training with a firearm,” said Representative Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.)
Representative Thomas Hall sponsored the bill. He said he thinks it’s important to have “good guys with guns” to stop the bad guys, but many school districts, including Westlake City Schools, believe the dangers of arming teachers outweigh the benefits.
“I think the biggest concern that you would have is where anytime you bring weapons around students or you know, small children, you have to be incredibly careful in how you do that and from our position, as I mentioned, having a school resource officer in there, who has been thoroughly trained in managing a weapon and using a weapon is more comfortable to us than arming staff members.”
Westlake superintendent Scott Goggin says they already have a school resource officer in every building. He also points out that all their schools are near the police department.
“You know, it’s tough to say if other school districts will take advantage of it,” Goggin said. “I think, when you talk about school districts that may take advantage of it, I’m sure response time would be a consideration on how quickly you can get safety forces into your building in case anything does happen. So that’s why you may see districts in more rural Ohio that, you know, have a longer response time due to their location. That’s why I would be surprised to see schools in our area or suburban schools, take advantage of this.”
19 News reached out to several other school districts about this. The Avon Lake Superintendent said they are definitely not considering this. Akron schools said they have no plans to do it.
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