NEWTON FALLS — The board of education recently passed a new policy allowing one or more people to carry a deadly weapon on school property or in designated school safety zones to ensure the safety of students and staff.

“We already have several staff members who have volunteered to be part of our effort to keep kids and staff safe in the face of a violent attacker,” said Newton Falls Superintendent Andreas Johansson.

The policy was approved at the December board meeting and notes House Bill 99 of the 134th General Assembly allows a person who has written authorization from the board to convey or possess a deadly weapon provided that: the person has successfully completed the curriculum, instruction, and training established or the person has received a certificate of having satisfactorily completed an approved basic peace officer training program or is a law enforcement officer; and the board of education has notified the public that the board has authorized one or more person(s) to go armed within a school operated by the board.

Johansson said for a person to possess a deadly weapon in a school safety zone, they must submit to an annual criminal records check and possess the necessary statutory qualifications to be armed or to have access to firearms on school property.

Johansson is authorized to recruit employees to voluntarily possess deadly weapons provided they have obtained the initial instruction and training required and have passed a criminal records check. The employees shall be incorporated into the Emergency Management Plans developed for each school building in the district.

The names shall be considered confidential and not a public record.

The policy also indicates upon separation from employment with the board, whether voluntary or involuntary, and during any term of paid or unpaid suspension from employment, any prior authorization supplied to an employee to convey or possess a deadly weapon shall be deemed automatically rescinded without the need for further action of the Board. In addition, the board also authorizes at Johansson’s discretion, to suspend or revoke any authorization granted to an employee.

The state legislation became effective Sept. 12, 2022.

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER

The district has an agreement with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office for one school resource officer to cover two buildings.

Johansson said the cost for hiring additional school resource officers through the sheriff’s office is cost prohibitive at a contract price of approximately $64,000 to $70,000 per year.

Board of Education President Amie Crowder said if the SRO is at one school building and he has to get to the other building for an incident, it does take a few minutes. Crowder said sadly in the world today, school shootings can take less than a few minutes to happen.

“What the board did was approve an additional measure to ensure the safety of our students. We would rather be overprotected to ensure safety of our students and staff. Making sure students are safe is the number one priority for us,” she said.

Crowder said past incidents of shootings in rural areas show how quickly they take place and what damage can be done, noting Newton Falls is a smaller school district. She said the school district understands that the village does not have a police department and it takes time for the sheriff’s office to get to Newton Falls.

Johansson said previously, school boards were able to authorize armed staff as a local decision and no training or performance requirements existed.

He said now, training for armed staff requires at least 24 hours of initial training by the Ohio School Safety Center’s Mobile Training Team, and eight hours of annual requalification training. The training requires specific topics to be covered in addition to scenario-based and live training exercises.

“At Newton Falls, the armed staff member must demonstrate additional skills and proficiency in these areas, in addition to the state minimum requirements, and will be required to continually train on skills and practices throughout the year, resulting in 50 to 75 hours of training annually,” Johansson said.

He said armed staff at Newton Falls will demonstrate firearm proficiency that far exceeds the state minimum, using the Newton Falls Armed Staff Qualifier Course of Fire in addition to the state standard ASSET Qualifier Course of Fire.

He said the annual training cycle is varied and designed to meet the needs of the school district, and aligns with legal requirements on communications capabilities, collaboration techniques, neutralization of potential threats and active shooters, psychology of critical incidents, deescalation techniques; crisis intervention; trauma and first aid care, completion of tactical live firearms training; and realistic urban training.