Governor Mike DeWine announced Monday that the Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC) has finished setting the required training known as the Armed School Staff Essential Training (ASSET) Curriculum.
The OSSC developed the curriculum to meet the requirements of House Bill (HB) 99 sponsored by state Representative Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.) which gives Ohio school boards and governing bodies the option to arm staff members.
“For districts that choose to arm a school staff member, this training will ensure that those individuals are thoroughly prepared to respond to emergencies specific to a school environment,” DeWine said in a news release.
DeWine signed HB 99 into law in June which reduces the number of training hours required for armed school staff from 700 hours to 24. After the initial 24 hours of training, individuals must continue training with an additional eight hours annually. Some school boards may require more training, and all must notify parents if armed personnel are on staff. Armed personnel will also be required to undergo an annual criminal background check.
Licensed regional peace officers and armed forces veterans will make up an Ohio Mobile Training Team, which will join forces with local schools to improve both safety and school security. One chief mobile training officers and 16 regional officers make up the team. The team consists of one chief mobile training officer and 16 regional officers. The officers are assigned to different locations across the state.
Just last week, Hilliard school district banned a substitute teacher and charged her with a fifth-degree felony for the illegal carry of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety will begin offering training next year, but school districts have the option to select an alternate training provider whose training courses meet the requirements of the new Ohio School Safety Center curriculum.
The curriculum includes 24 hours of initial training and eight hours of annual recertification training, all of which include scenario-based training, instruction on mitigation techniques, de-escalation techniques, tactics of responding to critical incidents, neutralization of a potential threat and/or active shooters, and tactical live firearm training.
“We are doing something to help protect the lives of our children and staff at schools here in Ohio,” Hall said during the bill’s signing ceremony in June.
It is up to the school board to make the decision whether they will allow armed teachers in the classroom it is not a requirement.
Schools can find more information on how to sign up for state training or training offered by an alternate entity ohioschoolsafetycenter.ohio.gov.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Shooting Range” by Karolina Grabowska.
