After an 18-year-old walked into an unlocked side door of a Texas elementary shot and killed 21, you have to ask, how safe are our schools?

In the last few years, Wood County schools, whether old or new, have added a vestibule to keep anyone from walking directly into the school. Side doors are kept locked and monitored.

There are two ways to address school safety, said Perrysburg Schools Superintendent Tom Hosler.

There is making it more difficult for some to come in by adding vestibules, cameras and alarms.

There also needs to be a culture where people are comfortable sharing information with school staff.

“We need to focus on how we can prevent someone from showing up at a school door,” Hosler said. “Once they are there, bad things are going to happen.”

Tony Borton, Elmwood Local Schools superintendent, said he met with staff and administrators after the May 24 Texas shooting to see what they could learn from the incident.

He said an issue with students and staff propping doors open has been addressed.

“We have an alert that tells us if an access door has been propped open,” Borton said.

Cameras are now aimed at all the doors, and if the alert sounds, footage will be reviewed to see who did it. That system was added when the security entrances were added, he said.

All three vestibules are double locked and have bullet-proof glass.

“I think with school safety, you have to be constantly up to date on what you can do,” Borton said.

The district holds a lockdown practice every year, but with every school shooting, it is something new.

“It is happening more often that I’d like to talk about,” Borton said. “I think in today’s world, it could happen at any school.”

You plan for the worst and pray for the best, Borton said.

“Every time there is a shooting like this, it breaks my heart,” Borton said. “It leaves me speechless. It is a sad turn of events we need to get out of schools.”

School shootings since 1991, where 13 were killed at Columbine High School, have left 10 dead at Santa Fe High, 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary and now 21 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

Republican lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday that would allow local boards of education to allow teachers to carry a gun in the classroom.

Under current law, a teacher would need consent of a board plus more than 700 hours of training to bear arms in school.

But under House Bill 99, that teacher would need consent of the board and to meet certain training requirements, which are capped by the state at 24 hours unless the local board demands more.

Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer said he watched the Senate debate on Wednesday.

“It’s a local issue,” he said. “There are school districts out there where police could be a half hour way, there’s a good compelling argument.”

The Lake Local Schools campus is just down the road from the township police department on Ohio 795.

“That puts us in an advantageous situation, we also have a school resource officer there,” Hummer said.

Hosler agreed local control is best.

“I appreciate the legislature giving districts local control,” he said, but added the bill leaves a lot of unanswered questions about training.

“For something this important, I’m disappointed that is not explicitly explained,” he said.

Hosler pointed out it is challenging for highly-trained officers in a situation such as a shootout, yet the expectation is teachers with 24 hours of training are expected to step up.

“That’s a heavy burden for those folks,” he said.

Additionally, police have no idea who among the staff may be authorized to carry a gun.

“If they encounter an adult with a handgun in a hallway, they’re going to shoot,” Hosler said.

Borton, at Elmwood, said he will take the idea of arming teachers to the board of education as he does with all other security features.

“We will consider it as a board. I’m not saying we will or won’t. The board has to weigh in on it,” he said.

North Baltimore Local Schools Superintendent Ryan Delaney pointed out the village’s police department is only 90 seconds away.

“We can get to our police force very quickly,” he said.

Any decision about arming teachers will have to come from the school board; that is not his decision to make, Delaney said.

He said the district released students for summer break two days after the Texas shooting. He said he went over protocols with administrators.

The district ordered extra cameras to cover blind spots; they were installed three days before the Texas shooting, Delaney said.

Cameras monitor all exterior doors and key fobs are needed to unlock them.

“We never prop open our doors,” he said.

All classroom doors in the elementary can be bolted closed and every classroom in the district can be locked from the inside.

Any time an event like this happens, he has conversation with administration, staff and police, said Perrysburg’s Hosler.

Safety is not just the school resource officer’s job or the principal’s job, he said.

“It is everyone’s job.”

Eastwood Local Schools officials plan to participate this summer in training on threat assessments, and have trained teams at each building by fall.

The school board voted at its May meeting to engage a firm to do the training and provide technical support for our teams.

In a community email the day after the Texas shooting, Superintendent Brent Welker said a layered approach is needed to protect students and staff, and it starts with supporting students with mental health needs.

Delaney, at North Baltimore, said they monitor their students for mental health issues.

“I continue to be proactive and watch for signs that show kids are suffering,” he said.

Mental health also has been addressed at Elmwood, where there are four counselors on staff as well as services from the Children’s Resource Center.

“We provide services. And when we think kids need help, we try to get them into the appropriate services,” Borton said.

In trainings with the U.S. Secret Service, their #1 preventative strategy is having a strong and supportive school culture, Welker wrote in his email.

“Identifying and engaging potential threats is another critical preventative measure,” Welker wrote. “It is rare that someone commits and act like yesterday without expressing some intent to someone whether it is in their social media feeds or to another person. There is the old phrase ‘see something, say something’ but it is as true today as it has ever been.”

Hosler agreed.

“You’re only as good as the people in your building,” he said. “Preventing someone from showing up at our door is the best thing that could happen.

“We are trying to create a culture where people are comfortable sharing what they heard,” Hosler said.

Safety and security measures are not public information, said Penta Career Center Superintendent Ed Ewers in an emailed statement, declining to answer questions.

“Penta does not have any comment about the Ohio legislation that the governor plans to sign,” the statement said.