July 14, 2018, Chillicothe (OH) Gazette: Work on school safety upgrades continues https://www.chillicothegazette.com/story/news/local/2018/07/14/work-school-safety-upgrades-continues/782191002/ As the Chillicothe City Schools continue trying to work out an arrangement with city officials that would increase the number of school resource officers in the district, the issue of school security continues to be top-of-mind as the beginning of another year of classes nears…. School Board President Steve Mullins told council members that he expected more grant funding for school security measures would likely be made available at the state and federal levels in the coming years in the wake of school shootings such as the Valentine's Day incident in Parkland, Florida. State Sen. Bob Peterson and State Rep. Gary Scherer said the recent passage of House Bill 318 should be a step in that direction. The bill, among other things, increases the amount of state funding for school safety training grants from $10 million to $12 million. The grants, issued through the Ohio Attorney General's Office in consultation with the superintendent of Public Instruction and the director of Mental Health and Addiction Services, may be used by selected school districts in a number of ways. Among the approved uses is support of school resource officer certification training, any type of active shooter or school safety training, school safety educational resources at all grade levels, training to identify and assist students with mental health issues and any other training related to school safety. Schools will be directed to work with local sheriff or police departments to develop the programming and training…. “As lawmakers we need to be doing everything in our power to ensure students are safe when they go to school," said Peterson. "While there is still more work to be done, I am confident that this bill will help provide the necessary training and resources to ensure Ohio has the safest schools in the nation."… Several area school districts passed resolutions earlier this year pushing for more state and federal resources to address school security issues raised by events nationwide. Attempts to get details of upcoming plans from other local districts was unsuccessful by press time for this story.
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