Members of the School Preparedness Roundtable include first responders, school officials, nurses, college and university officials, school associations, Ohio Department of Education, Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Ohio Citizen Corps.
"In light of the recent violence at our nation's schools, it's critical that we continue to do all that we can to protect our children while they're at school," said Ohio Homeland Security Executive Director John Overly. "The Ohio School Preparedness Roundtable has made significant progress to enhance preparedness and security measures at schools and will continue to strive to make our schools as safe as possible."
Accomplishments and ongoing projects involving the School Preparedness Roundtable to improve school security include:
- Passing House Bill 422, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hughes, which requires schools to conduct one safety drill each year. Failure to conduct the required school safety drill can result in a fine of $1000. The legislation also exempts school crisis plans from the definition of public record and requires schools to forward certain facility documents to the Attorney General's Office and local first responder agencies.
- Ohio Homeland Security is overseeing the creation of the "School Incident Response Team" Technical Advisory Committee, which will be part of the Ohio Response System. (The Ohio Response System, modeled after the National Urban Search and Rescue Response System, was developed to expand the state's capability to respond to incidents that overwhelm local resources). The School Incident Response Team will identify and coordinate a team in each of Ohio's eight Homeland Security regions that will be available to a school during a crisis or disaster. Each team will consist of experts from the following disciplines: school nurse, local emergency management agency, school administration, mental health, law enforcement, fire, EMS, transportation and communications.
- Working with insurance companies to sponsor and hold School Safety and Security Workshops across the state.
- Seeking funding from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration for the Ohio School Alert System, built and managed by U.S. Comcorp and sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio. The Ohio School Alert System involves the notification of critical information by both phone and email to parents or guardians within minutes of an emergency situation at the school. Ohio Homeland Security also is a partner in this project.
- Identifying a gap in the curriculum of Ohio colleges and universities regarding school security training for future teachers, school nurses and school administrators. The University of Findlay began including eight hours of school security training as part of the curriculum in these disciplines.
- Ohio Homeland Security is partnering with the Ohio School Resource Officers Association and the Ohio Crime Prevention Association to conduct school security assessments at schools across Ohio.
