Local News

Schools review shooting protocol

Area districts, police react to incident at Lowellville complex

Most area school districts have different levels of preparedness plans in the event of school shootings or emergency lockdowns.

Many work closely with their local police departments through school resource officer contracts that place officers in one or more of their buildings.

A student's self-inflicted shooting unfolded Thursday in the Lowellville schools complex lunchroom, and the police response was quick in assessing the scene and managing how students and parents were reunited and led from the complex.

School districts and police departments assure parents and others they have been proactive in attempts to identify situations before incidents take place, and they have contingency plans in the event an emergency takes place.

VIGILANCE

Liberty schools Superintendent Andrew J. Tommelleo said the district is increasing its vigilance after what occurred in Lowellville.

"Before this occurred, our staff went through suicide prevention training," Tommelleo said. "We have emergency protocols in place. We have an emergency preparation plan in each building that was created by the FBI."

Like other area districts, Liberty has school resource officers, who are police officers, assigned to its buildings.

Tommelleo emphasized the district works on preventive actions, including having counselors in the buildings every day ready to address mental health needs of both students and staff and taking every comment, threat and incident seriously.

Tommelleo said the district actively has worked to establish a good relationship with local law enforcement by preparing for emergencies and having officers constantly in its buildings -- allowing them to build relationships with students.

"They attend everything we do," he said.

Boardman police Chief Todd Werth said the call for assistance that went out from Lowellville went through the township's dispatch center.

"We had officers at the scene," Werth said. "We were one of a number of departments that went to assist."

Boardman police Sgt. Michael Sweeney said the department has SROs in the school buildings. The officers have taken advanced training courses to adjust emergency response plans based on the situations they may face.

"We have all of our officers walk through our buildings, so they understand their layout," Werth said. "A lot of our officers are graduates of the school district. However, we do have some officers who were not originally from this area."

The department has officers going through school buildings every day.

"They know the layout of the schools and they get to know the students," Sweeney said. "This gives us another level of visibility."

The focus becomes building relationships, not enforcement.

Boardman's SROs also go through one diocesan school and one Youngstown city school located within the Boardman boundary.

RELATIONSHIPS

Weathersfield schools Superintendent Damon Dohar said his district works closely with Weathersfield police to prevent and, if necessary, respond to a school lockdown due to a shooting.

"If there is an emergency situation, we are fortunate that because of our geographic location on the border of Trumbull and Mahoning counties, it likely would be responded to by the Girard police, the state highway patrol, Youngstown, Niles and Warren police and others within a matter of minutes," Dohar said.

Dohar said the district annually does ALICE training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate), which is a nationally recognized, active shooter preparedness program.

"We do that at the beginning and in the middle of typical school years," Dohar said. "If there is a shooter in a school building, there are escape plans, locations where students are supposed to gather and ways to make sure that parents are notified."

Dohar emphasized teachers are trained to make sure they have good attendance counts every day, and know where their students are during the course of each school day.

"We emphasize safety and accountability," Dohar said.

Dohar said the reaction to active shooting situations would be different depending on which school building might be involved.

"If it occurs at the elementary school building, there are more outdoor windows that are able to open than at the high school," Dohar said. "Teachers can get students out of windows and to safety at the elementary school."

Dohar said the school district spends a good amount of money on its ability to communicate within and out of the buildings. Local law enforcement has its detailed emergency plans.

PREVENTION

"The biggest thing is we have worked to be proactive and have done quite a bit of preventive measure through socio-emotional learning programs, talking to students and watching for clues there may be problems that may need to be addressed," Dohar said. "We encourage parents to take a few moments to talk to their children every day.

"That's the greatest deterrence, because they will see if anything unusual is happening," he continued.

Weathersfield police Chief Michael Naples Jr. said the department works to train both certified and noncertified employees of the school district.

"We work hand-in-hand with district employees," Naples said. "Every year we have our officers do tours of school buildings to learn about any changes that may have occurred over the previous year, so our officers will know the best ways to get in and out during critical incident situations."

Lordstown schools Superintendent Gregory Bonamase said the district has a safety plan designed by principals working closely with school resource officers.

"We have a crises plan that has been passed out to all of our teachers," Bonamase said. "There is a checklist of things to do regardless of the type of emergency situation."

PRACTICE

Bonamase emphasized the district works closely with both village police and fire departments.

"We practice regular drills, including lockdowns, for all kinds of situations," he said.

The district works with a Columbus-based program called the Ohio School Safety Center, which reviews school district safety procedures, provides grants and a safety tip line

"Students, teachers and anyone in schools can call to report their concern," Bonamase said. "They (Ohio School Safety Center) will contact me, so we can take appropriate actions to address the concerns. Things that may be reported include bullying, students withdrawing into themselves, someone bring weapons on school property."

The district also works with Candace Care to provide counseling services.

Champion police Chief Jeffrey White said the school district's SRO is provided by the Trumbull County Sheriff Department.

"Our emergency training for the schools is the same as they do for any other location where there may be a shooter," White said. "Our officers took an oath of office to protect and serve. That oath includes everyone, whether it is in a school or some other location."

"What it boils down to is a lot of officer training," he said.

Still, LaBrae Superintendent Anthony J. Calderone said he does not know how anyone prepares for a shooting at a school building.

"It is safe to say no one knows how to prepare for that," Calderone said. "You do the best you can in the moment."