Ohio gov proposes added $17M for school security

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio schools would see additional
grant money made available for security upgrades and face penalties for
failing to submit safety plans under a package of school safety
initiatives proposed by Gov. John Kasich.
The grants and sanctions
were part of a package detailed Wednesday, elements of which have been
tucked into a fast-moving midterm budget bill. Ohio’s current law
imposes no penalties for failing to file a required safety plan.
State
Superintendent Richard Ross said 3,000 schools took advantage of $12
million made available last summer for entryway security and
communications.
"There’s so much interest in that, we went through that very, very quickly," Ross said.
New
grants, if approved, would be available through the Ohio Facilities
Construction Commission for security upgrades at both public and private
schools. Of the total, $10 million would go to public schools and $7
million would go to private ones.
Kasich’s plan also takes several
steps that the administration says are aimed at strengthening Ohio’s
system of school safety plans. Ohio law requires all schools to have
plans on file with the attorney general for handling emergencies, such
as a school shooter or terrorist attack.
According to figures from
Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office, 84 of 4,438 schools required to
file such plans are noncompliant, 43 have outdated plans and the plans
of 41 schools are missing.
DeWine said Kasich’s proposals are a
helpful next step in Ohio’s school safety efforts, following many of the
recommendation of a task force he appointed.
"I keep reminding
people of this: Your child’s in school for maybe seven hours a day —
that’s probably the safest that child’s going to be — because going to
and from school is where you can have an auto accident, you can have
problems," he said. "Still, it’s important that we prepare for
catastrophe, when there’s an active shooter in school. We’ve experienced
that in Ohio, we know how horrible that can be."
The governor’s
plan would provide free safety-plan consultation and training to
districts through an existing $1.9 million federal emergency management
grant. The state’s emergency management office and the University of
Findlay would work together on the training.
Public Safety
Director John Born said the state also is offering technical assistance
to districts through its Center for P-20 Safety and Security and the
school safety expert on staff at the Department of Homeland Security.
An
existing state hotline will also be equipped and publicized to accept
tips on potential suicides, school shootings and bullying.
Kasich
will push legislation imposing penalties up to revocation of a
superintendent’s license for failing to file a required safety plan. The
bill would also require that safety plans be filed by joint vocational
schools, STEM schools or schools receiving students using certain state
scholarships.
P-20 Center executive director Rick Amweg said
recommended formats for the plans are being developed. He said the
administration’s legislation, if adopted, "will ensure that practically
every student in the state of Ohio will be going to a school with a
safety plan in place."

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